For Immediate Release, August 12,2026 Groups File Amended Lawsuit Challenging “Alligator Alcatraz Florida, Federal Officials Withheld Key Funding Information MIAMI— Conservation groups filed an updated lawsuit today as part of the ongoing legal challenge over the Everglades detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the heart of Big Cypress National Preserve. The amended lawsuit shows that state and federal officials withheld crucial information from a federal appeals court proving that Florida applied for federal funding for the detention center and that the project should have undergone federal environmental reviews. The detention center was built to house people apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Today’s filing comes ahead of a court hearing scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 14, [...]

For Immediate Release, May 12,2026 Alligator Alcatraz Could Shut Down in June MIAMI— The massive detention center in the heart of the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” is slated to be closed in June, according to reports from vendors at the facility. The facility was hastily constructed last summer and continues to operate illegally in Big Cypress National Preserve.  Tuesday’s report comes as Friends of the Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity are poised to return to court in early June when the court of appeals will return jurisdiction to the trial judge who temporarily paused operations last year. “We won't let up until Alligator Alcatraz is shut down and its harm to the Everglades is completely remediated,” said [...]

For Immediate Release, April 21,2026 Everglades groups vow to fight on, despite temporary setback in court of appeal MIAMI— The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the ICE detention center in the heart of the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” can keep operating even though it hasn’t gone through any environmental review.  Everglades groups vowed to fight on, despite today’s ruling. The ruling today invalidates the preliminary injunction that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued in August 2025 to prevent environmental harm caused by the facility. Today’s ruling allows legal challenges to continue, including deliberation on the merits of the case. The ruling is a setback for the imperiled wildlife and fragile ecosystems of the Big Cypress National Preserve, including the Florida panthers that frequent [...]

For Immediate Release, October 14, 2025 Friends of the Everglades files suit to get public records on Everglades detention center TALLAHASSEE - Friends of the Everglades filed suit today against the Florida Division of Emergency Management because the agency is spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a mass immigration detention center in the Everglades without disclosing financial arrangements with the federal government.  The failure to disclose those records violates Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Act, which requires agencies to make official records available to the public.   Friends of the Everglades, represented in this matter by Earthjustice and attorney Paul Schwiep of the Coffey Burlington law firm, has been requesting public records under Fla. Stat. Ch. 119 since June 24, 2025, about the [...]

For Immediate Release, September 4, 2025 Challenge Vowed After Court Stalls Everglades Detention Center Shutdown MIAMI— A federal appeals court today paused a lower court order that required the state of Florida and the Trump administration to wind down environmentally destructive activities at a mass detention center in Big Cypress National Preserve known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”  The divided three-judge panel stopped short of overturning the injunction, which stems from a lawsuit filed by conservation groups in June to protect Florida’s imperiled wildlife and fragile ecosystems from the detention center. The conservation groups will continue to fight the federal and state defendants’ appeal of the preliminary injunction in the appeals court. Meanwhile, today’s decision will at least temporarily allow state [...]

For Immediate Release, August 21, 2025 Judge Halts Operations at Everglades Detention Center With Preliminary Injunction MIAMI— A federal judge today ordered the state of Florida and the Trump administration to halt construction, stop bringing new detainees, and begin winding down operations at the mass detention center in Big Cypress National Preserve known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” The preliminary injunction, requested by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe, marks a major victory for Florida’s imperiled wildlife and fragile ecosystems which are threatened by the detention center. In an 82-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams cited extensive evidence demonstrating harm to the Everglades caused by operation of the facility, which was built without [...]