A federal appeals court has given Florida the green light to keep operating its controversial migrant detention facility deep in the Everglades, a site critics call “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that had halted construction and blocked housing of new detainees at the site. The decision reinstates full operations while the legal case continues.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the ruling Thursday, calling it a major win for Florida and the Trump administration, which both backed the project.
“The media was giddy that somehow Alligator Alcatraz was ‘shutting down,’” DeSantis said. “Now we told them that that wasn’t true. There had been illegal aliens continuing to be there and removed and returned to their home country.”
DeSantis accused U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, of overstepping her authority when she blocked the facility on environmental grounds, per the Conservative Brief.
“Some leftist judge ruled implausibly that somehow Florida wasn’t allowed to use our own property to help the federal government in this important mission because they didn’t do an environmental impact statement,” DeSantis said.
“Well, we said we would fight that … and I’m pleased to say that the