“Alligator Alcatraz’ remains open — but our case against it is very much alive and moving forward. 

This week, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a new brief with the appeals court, responding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State of Florida’s attempt to overturn a district court order in this case. Our new filing argues that the court should restore an earlier injunction to halt activity at “Alligator Alcatraz”, which was built at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport (TNT).

Our brief explains:
To build the facility, Florida applied approximately 800,000 square feet (roughly 20 acres) of new pavement over compacted grassy areas, erected miles of new fencing, installed high-wattage industrial lighting visible from more than 20 miles away, and moved hundreds of workers, and thousands of detainees, onto the Site…

Prior to construction of the facility, the TNT Site had four employees on Site, responsible for mowing grass…

After a four-day evidentiary hearing involving testimony from Plaintiffs’ nine witnesses and more than 100 exhibits, and a dozen exhibits and only one witness on behalf of Defendants, the district court entered a preliminary injunction that was firmly rooted in the evidence and law. Appellants have failed to show that the district court abused its discretion or that any material factfinding was clearly erroneous. … The district court’s order should therefore be affirmed.

We also filed a motion Wednesday asking the court to consider critical new evidence confirming that the federal government would fund the detention facility — and that Florida misled the court about the steps it had taken to secure that money — underscoring just how deeply entangled federal agencies are in a project that threatens the Everglades and should therefore be held accountable for violating federal environmental law.

The motion states:
It is in the interests of justice to allow supplementation of the record on appeal with these documents confirming that: (1) there was a June 20, 2025, state-federal agreement for [Florida Division of Emergency Management] to detain noncitizens under INA Section 287(g) federal immigration authority and with the support of federal funding; (2) FDEM applied for that federal funding on August 7; and (3) FDEM was allocated federal funding by August 15 at the latest…

Stay with us as this fight continues — because what happens next matters. These latest filings are a key step on the road to our oral arguments, which are scheduled for the week of April 6 before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Visit our Stop “Alligator Alcatraz” hub to get the latest updates, understand what’s at stake and find ways to take action.