Federal Appeals Court Hears New Arguments In Alligator Alcatraz Environmental Review Case

MIAMI — A federal appeals court on Tuesday heard arguments over whether to lift its temporary hold on a lower court’s decision that effectively sought to dismantle the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Everglades.

The injunction was issued as a result of a lawsuit brought last year by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe, which argued federal officials failed to abide by national environmental laws when they set out to quickly build the tented facility on an airstrip that’s surrounded by the federally protected Big Cypress National Preserve. The detention center is still in operation after the appeals court temporarily blocked the lower court’s order in September.

The three-judge panel didn’t say when they would issue a decision. Legal counsel for the environmental groups argued the federal government controls the facility, and so it must undergo a national environmental review.

Attorneys representing the state and federal government countered Alligator Alcatraz has received no significant federal funding or control and that a state-owned facility is not subject to the law in question, known as the National Environmental Policy Act. Under NEPA, the federal government must collect studies and feedback about the environmental impact of federal projects and consider alternative sites.

Chief Judge William Pryor, a George W. Bush-era appointee, grilled attorney Paul Schwiep, who’s representing the environmental groups, on whether the detention center is technically under federal control. Schwiep argued the detention center serves “an exclusively federal function” and should have triggered a NEPA review once it was approved.

Pryor pushed back, saying Florida built and operates the detention center. He also asserted the state has the power to use the area for purposes other than immigration enforcement.

“If they [the state] want to stop detaining aliens there tomorrow … they can do that,” Pryor said.

The state and federal government have argued in response that they could bypass NEPA’s requirements because the operation was built and run by the state, not the federal government. The Trump administration still hasn’t reimbursed Florida for the estimated $608 million in expenses related to operating the facility.

But Judge Nancy Abudu, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, countered that the state still had to abide by federal immigration laws and noted that President Donald Trump and federal officials had publicly committed to funding the project.

Jesse Panuccio, the attorney representing Florida's Division of Emergency Management, pushed for the case to be moved to a different federal district, which would relocate it from the Southern District of Florida to the central district that serves Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa.

Miami-Dade County owns and operates the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, where the airstrip and detention center are located. But the airstrip itself is largely in unincorporated neighboring Collier County. Another case involving Alligator Alcatraz detainees’ access to their attorneys was moved to the central district last year.

Pryor rebuffed discussing the question of venue and said it wouldn’t be necessary if the judges were to determine the detention center is controlled by the state rather than the federal government.

“If there’s no federal control, that’s fatal to their claim,” he said.

Panuccio also argued against a preliminary injunction from last summer, saying the state of Florida and the Trump administration couldn’t add to the detainee population and had to take steps to dismantle it.

“Preliminary injunctions are supposed to be extraordinary,” he said.

Environmental groups have argued the detention facility posed a threat to endangered species, including the Florida panther, while the Miccosukee Tribe said the project posed a threat to its ability to hunt, fish and gather plants in that part of the Everglades.

If the judges rule in favor of the environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, operations at the detention center will again have to wind down while the case proceeds to trial.

Elise Bennett, a senior attorney and Florida and Caribbean director with the Center for Biological Diversity, acknowledged after the court hearing that there were some “difficult questions on both sides” from the judges but said the groups’ central argument surrounding environmental harm inflicted by the facility remains. Those arguments will be heard again in district court once the appeal is resolved.

“One thing that was imminently clear in that hearing is there really was no serious question about the immense and irreparable harm happening on the site,” Bennett said.