Judge stops work at Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ What are they building there?

In a win for environmentalists, a federal judge on Aug. 7 stopped further construction at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” for two weeks while a lawsuit regarding the site’s environmental impact continues.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ restraining order does not block operations at the South Florida Detention Facility site, something Gov. Ron DeSantis was quick to point out.

“Operations at Alligator Alcatraz are ongoing and deportations are continuing,” he posted on X.

The lawsuit, brought by environmental and conservation advocacy groups Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice and joined by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, says that the hurried construction of the facility was done without public input or the environmental impact statement required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

Williams issued the restraining order after Florida attorneys refused a request to put construction on hold, NPR reported. The state argues that the facility is state-operated and federal laws do not apply, but the judge cited numerous Trump officials calling it an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.

“We’re pleased that the judge saw the urgent need to put a pause on additional construction, and we look forward to advancing our ultimate goal of protecting the unique and imperiled Everglades ecosystem from further damage caused by this mass detention facility,” said Eve Samples, executive director at Friends of the Everglades in a release.

A 1969 study describing the disastrous environmental effects of development in that area is what scuttled the original plans for the site, which was intended at the time to be the home of the largest airport in the world.

The question of who is actually responsible for the detention center came up in another lawsuit concerning the lack of civil rights for detainees. The suit claims that access to lawyers is being blocked and detainees are being shipped out of the country without the ability to contest their detention.

What happens now?

What is ‘Alligator Alcatraz’?

The South Florida Detention Facility, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” is a temporary migrant detainment site the state opened in July in the Florida Everglades to house undocumented immigrants detained by state law enforcement and ICE officials. It’s intended to serve as a base to fly immigrants out of the country to their nation of origin, or to another country willing to take them.

The brainchild of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, the site was seized by the state, rushed into development and opened in under two weeks. Before that, it was the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport, a 39-square-mile airport facility with a 10,500-foot runway.

Now surrounded by more than five miles of barbed wire, the tent city is scheduled to hold up to 3,000 detainees and is staffed by 1,000 workers and 400 guards.

The site was opened as both DeSantis and the Trump administration ramp up measures to seize undocumented immigrants in Florida and across the country and ship them out of the United States.

Protests sprang up immediately and critics have described inhumane conditions and environmental concerns.

What did the judge block at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’?

Specifics of any construction have not been released, but the site was thrown together quickly and Uthmeier and DeSantis have both said they plan to expand it to hold more detainees. When Uthmeier discussed the forthcoming site in an interview in June, he predicted it would eventually hold 5,000 people but more recent estimates from the DeSantis administration call for 3,000 beds.

Williams’ temporary restraining order “means that new construction, including filling, paving, installation of new infrastructure, and installation of new lighting, must stop immediately,” according to the environmentalists’ statement.

While Uthmeier has said the site is a temporary one, the environmentalist groups are skeptical.

“Previously unimproved sections of the area have been filled and paved, roads have been added and expanded, and the night sky over Big Cypress now has a glow that is visible from at least 15 miles away,” their release said.

Witnesses at the district court hearing testified to seeing trucks with fill and other construction materials going in and out of the site, the Miami Herald reported.

Where is ‘Alligator’ Alcatraz?

The “Alligator Alcatraz” facility is in Ochopee, Florida, just north of Everglades National Park, about six miles from Big Cypress National Preserve near the border between Miami-Dade and Collier counties.

It’s also near the ancestral homelands of the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribe of Florida. Tribal members have denounced the development of detainment camps on indigenous land.

According to the Miami International Airport, the Dade-Collier Airport was used as a training facility for “commercial pilots, private training, and a small number of military touch-and-goes.”

Is ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ the official name?

“Alligator Alcatraz” is how Florida officials and the Trump administration publicly refer to it, though official documents do not call the center by that name.

“Yes, it is the official name,” Uthmeier spokeperson Jeremy Redfern said in an email to the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times.

By July 2, workers had installed a blue “Alligator Alcatraz” sign near the facility along with multiple green road signs pointing the way on local roads. Almost immediately, people were seen taking selfies in front of the sign.

When Uthmeier suggested the new site on June 19, he had the name ready.

“I call it Alligator Alcatraz,” he said, over a pounding rock beat. “It’s 30 square-mile-area is completely surrounded by the Everglades. It presents an efficient low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out, there’s not much waiting for ’em other than alligators and pythons.

“Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide,” he added.

However, state documents refer to it as the “South Florida Detention Facility.”

Will there be a second detention center in Florida?

State officials have declared plans to open a second immigrant detention center at Camp Blanding in Clay County. Public records refer to it as the “North Detention Facility.”

Camp Blanding is a training site for the Florida National Guard near Starke with an airfield, although a shorter one than at the southern center. The new site is expected to hold 2,000 detainees.

Will the proposed ‘Speedway Slammer’ detention center be in Florida?

While it seems a natural name for a state boasting the Daytona 500, the proposed “Speedway Slammer” detention site is planned for Indiana, home of the Indy 500.

It doesn’t help the confusion that the new site will be in the Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County, Indiana, on the former Grissom Air Force Base in Bunker Hill about 70 miles north of Indianapolis.

“If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana’s Speedway Slammer,” Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem said in an Aug. 5 post on X. “Avoid arrest and self deport now using the CBP Home App.”

The DHS followed with a post featuring a computer-generated image of an Indy car with ICE branding parked in front of a detention center. The car sported a No. 5, which is also used by Pato O’Ward, the Indy series’ lone Mexican driver and a fan favorite.

Penske Entertainment, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said it was caught off-guard and asked that “our IP not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.”

A DHS spokesperson told The IndyStar on Aug. 6 that intellectual property rights on a car was “absurd” and that “DHS will continue promoting the ‘Speedway Slammer’ as a comprehensive and collaborative approach to combatting illegal immigration.”

The post with the picture has been deleted, however.

Contributing: Ana Goñi-Lessan, The Tallahassee Democrat; Doris Alvarez Cea, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ constriction halted by district judge, here’s why