Government officials must clean up the environmentally damaging mess they made at “Alligator Alcatraz.” To make sure they do, we’re going back to court. 

Friends of the Everglades and our conservation partners filed an updated lawsuit today presenting new information for U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams to consider as we return to her courtroom in Miami on Friday. 

The new lawsuit shows that government officials withheld critical information from the court during our legal challenge, proving that Florida applied for federal funding for the detention center and that the project should have undergone federal environmental reviews. This information could have upheld the preliminary injunction granted by Judge Williams in August 2025 that halted the facility from operating. Instead, the site resumed operation two weeks later, allowing harmful impacts to the Everglades to continue for more than a year.

Today’s lawsuit also includes new claims alleging federal officials violated the Endangered Species Act.

We fight on to hold government officials accountable for the harm that continues: 

  • 20 acres of new pavement continue to threaten sensitive Everglades wetlands with runoff pollution 
  • Fencing surrounding the site remains, including razor-wire and barbed-wire fencing, and electrical equipment anchored to cement pads for automatic gates. 
  • Heavy machinery and noise continue to pose threats to Florida panthers by causing them to avoid essential habitat that they previously used and which is needed for their survival and recovery. 

For about a year, 24/7 industrial lights at “Alligator Alcatraz” illuminated the previously dark night sky in Big Cypress National Preserve. It could be seen more than 15 miles away and disrupted activity of federally protected species, including the Florida panther and endangered Florida bonneted bats.

“Alligator Alcatraz” is closed for now, but neither state nor federal officials have shown that the closure is permanent. Gov. DeSantis recently renewed the emergency order used to commandeer the site from Miami-Dade County. The state’s abuse of emergency powers and federal agencies’ disregard for bedrock environmental law must not be swept under the rug.

Thank you for continuing to stand with us. We won’t rest until the scars from  “Alligator Alcatraz” are gone and the site is remediated and protected for good.