A federal appeals court has overturned a legal order requiring Florida and the Trump administration to shut down the 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center, allowing it to remain operational. In a 2-1 ruling, the appellate court in Atlanta, Georgia, granted the request from the state of Florida and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to block a lower court injunction while the lawsuit proceeds.


Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared, Alligator Alcatraz is in fact, like we've always said, open for business. This ruling follows a previous order from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, who had mandated a halt to the facility's expansion and initiated dismantling within 60 days.


Judge Williams agreed with environmental groups and a Native American tribe, asserting that the immigration facility should have undergone federal environmental reviews before its establishment. Despite the lower court's ruling, last month the DHS began transferring detainees out of the Everglades, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in compliance with the order.


However, on Thursday, the Eleventh Circuit Court concluded that state and federal officials likely would prevail in arguments that the facility was exempt from the National Environmental Policy Act because it had not yet received federal funding. The majority opinion was written by two judges appointed by Trump, with an Obama appointee dissenting.


On-site, the former virtually abandoned Florida airport has been adapted into the detention center since July. The DHS announced that this ruling is a win for the American people, the rule of law, and common sense, claiming that the lawsuit was more about resisting law enforcement's efforts to remove dangerous criminals from the country than addressing environmental impacts.


In response to the ruling, Attorney DeSantis stated, Some leftist judge ruled implausibly that Florida wasn't allowed to use our own property on this important mission because they didn't do an environmental impact statement. Meanwhile, environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, described the decision as a heartbreaking setback for the Everglades ecosystem, but affirmed that the legal battle is far from over.


The Miccosukee Tribe, another plaintiff in the case, has yet to release a comment on the ruling.