A federal judge in Florida ordered a temporary halt Thursday to further construction on "Alligator Alcatraz," a detention center for undocumented immigrants located on an abandoned airstrip inside Big Cypress National Preserve.
According to plaintiffs in the case, Judge Kathleen M. Williams ordered a two-week halt while the two sides complete their arguments around a motion for a preliminary injunction against the detention center.
Under the judge's order, the state of Florida and the Department of Homeland Security are banned from performing new construction, including filling, paving, installation of new infrastructure, and installation of new lighting at the site, according to the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.
“We’re pleased that the judge saw the urgent need to put a pause on additional construction, and we look forward to advancing our ultimate goal of protecting the unique and imperiled Everglades ecosystem from further damage caused by this mass detention facility,” said Eve Samples, executive director at Friends of the Everglades.
The facility, which has a small tent village, kitchen facilities, and inmates, is located on the site of what in the 1960s was envisioned to become a massive jetport with runways six miles long. Environmental studies at the time predicted such an airport would generate massive quantities of sewage and industrial waste every day, not to mention thousands of tons of air pollution. The report also predicted that the jetport would doom to extinction the already dwindling population of the Florida panther.
Not only did those studies prompt the state and federal governments from pulling their support for the project, but they opened the door for President Gerald Ford to OK the federal government's purchase of the Big Cypress Swamp for $150 million and turning it into the nation’s first nature preserve.
In early June, Florida Attorney General James Uthemeir announced that the state would build its largest migrant detention center at the site of the jetport.
Soon thereafter Friends of the Everglades along with the Center for Biological Diversity sued to halt the project. They pointed out that the airport is located "within an environmentally sensitive freshwater wetland ecosystem of ecological significance for wildlife habitat. The Site is important for drinking water supply and Everglades water quality," and vital for many species considered threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
More so, the filing pointed out that the airport "lies within the broader Everglades ecosystem restoration footprint, and any development at that site that disrupts hydrologic connectivity or degrades environmental conditions threatens to undermine the very objectives" of the massive Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), a more than $20 billion project to restore the Everglades natural rhythm.
They also maintained that, since the Department of Homeland Security was involved with the project, the parties needed to follow the National Environmental Policy Act's requirements that they determine if their proposed actions would have significant environmental effects.
“We welcome the court’s decision to pause construction on this deeply concerning project,” said Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, who joined the case. “The detention facility threatens land that is not only environmentally sensitive but sacred to our people. While this order is temporary, it is an important step in asserting our rights and protecting our homeland. The Miccosukee Tribe will continue to stand for our culture, our sovereignty, and the Everglades.”
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