Environmental Groups Seek Everglades Detention Center Closure

Environmental groups urged a federal appeals court panel on Tuesday to lift its temporary stay on a lower court's order to close an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, arguing that the facility violates federal environmental law.

The center, known as Alligator Alcatraz, sits on a former airstrip in the sensitive wetland ecosystem and remains operational, housing immigration detainees. State officials opened it last summer to assist with federal immigration enforcement efforts. In mid-August, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami ruled that officials had failed to conduct a required environmental impact review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, and ordered the facility to wind down operations over 60 days. Williams determined that a federal reimbursement decision had already been made, triggering the law's requirements. A different appeals court panel paused that order in early September, citing arguments from Florida and federal officials that the state had not yet sought reimbursement, so NEPA did not apply.

During oral arguments in a Miami courtroom, the three-judge panel questioned attorneys about the extent of federal...