A federal judge will begin hearing testimony and arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit seeking to close down "Alligator Alcatraz," the immigration detention center recently erected in the Everglades.
The lawsuit was filed by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Florida Division of Emergency Management and Miami-Dade County.
The lawsuit, filed June 27 alleges state and federal agencies of violating a landmark federal environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, in building the detention center in the wetlands of Big Cypress National Preserve. The Miccosukee Tribe has also joined the suit, saying it's built on sacred tribal land.
Until the laws are followed, environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe said U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams should issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams is overseeing the case in Miami federal court.
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Civil rights advocates and detainees have also filed a separate lawsuit against the Everglades facility, alleging that detainees have been forced to go without adequate food and medical care. They also contend detainees are barred from meeting with their attorneys, held without any charges and unable to get a federal immigration court to hear their cases.
President Donald Trump has touted the facility's harshness and remoteness as fit for the "worst of the worst," while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has said the center can serve as a model for other state-run holding facilities for immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally.
Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the Everglades facility built in a matter of days. It features more than 200 security cameras and more than 5 miles of barbed wire. An adjacent runway makes it more convenient for DHS officials to move detainees in and out of the site.
It currently holds about 2,000 people, with the potential to double the capacity, according to Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie. The agency manages the facility for DHS.
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A state database of government contracts shows that since Florida officials announced plans for the facility in late June, the Executive Office of the Governor has awarded at least two dozen contracts totaling more than $245 million in taxpayer funds to build and manage the facility.
All the contracts were awarded under a DeSantis executive order declaring an illegal immigration emergency the governor first enacted in 2023 and which he has renewed since then. The order grants the state sweeping authority to suspend "any statute, rule or order" seen as slowing the response to the emergency, including requirements to competitively bid public contracts.
State officials say at least some of the cost will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is best known for responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters. But in court documents filed last month, DHS attorneys stated that the federal government had yet to reimburse Florida for any costs.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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