Everglades

Florida may be forced to choose between forgoing federal reimbursement for the immigrant detention center or facing an environmental review that would risk shutting down the facility.

It’s the latest effort by the South Florida Water Management District to eliminate as many pythons are possible from the Everglades, where they are decimating native species.

A federal judge in Miami refused to pause her order to wind down the Everglades facility. Attorneys for Homeland Security requested a stay, arguing the ruling would disrupt immigration enforcement.

Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security say the closure would disrupt immigration law enforcement.

Plaintiffs react following judges order to dismantle Alligator Alcatraz over the next 60 days

A Judge on Thursday ordered the facility to wind down operations within two months.

"This is a landmark victory for the Everglades and countless Americans who believe this imperiled wilderness should be protected, not exploited," said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, in a statement.

Civil rights attorneys in Miami asked a judge to ensure detainees have confidential access to their lawyers. They also want the judge to identify an immigration court with jurisdiction over the center.

A lawsuit challenging construction and operations of an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as 'Alligator Alley' has wrapped up with several key questions unanswered.

Clarifying these terms and their legal implications can help ensure people are talking about the same things – regardless of whether they agree about who should be in the country.

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe asked for the preliminary injunction. The facility can continue to operate and hold detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The lawsuit in Miami against federal and state authorities is one of two legal challenges to the South Florida detention center that was built more than a month ago by the state of Florida on an isolated airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County.