by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News September 7, 2025
Alligator Alcatraz has been given a reprieve.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has ruled the illegal alien holding facility in the Florida Everglades can continue operating.
The appeals court in a 2-1 decision on Thursday lifted a lower court’s order that had blocked use of the facility based on environmental concerns.
“Given that the federal government has an undisputed and wide-reaching interest in combating illegal immigration, and that illegal immigration is a matter of national security and public safety, we think the injunction issued below goes against the public interest,” the ruling said.
The decision came down to a question of who is running the facility, the Trump Administration or Florida.
Environmental groups and a Native American tribe filed lawsuits aimed at shutting down the facility using the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires the government to conduct an environmental impact study before beginning construction.
Judges Elizabeth Branch and Barbara Lagoa, both appointees of President Donald Trump, determined that Florida, not the Trump Administration, runs Alligator Alcatraz and therefore could not be challenged in federal court using NEPA.
A lower court judge had issued a preliminary injunction winding down the facility on the basis that the Trump Administration is reimbursing Florida for the facility, making it effectively a federal facility. The appeals court disagreed.
“To the extent the district court took these statements to mean that Florida may one day be reimbursed for its expenditures on the Facility, such an expectancy is insufficient as a matter of law to ‘federalize’ the action,” the majority said.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, in a post to X, hailed the decision as a “win for Florida and President Trump’s agenda! Great win for Florida and our mission to help President Trump detain, deport, and deliver for the American people.”
Federal appeals court rules operation of Alligator Alcatraz is in the public interest added by Editor Two on
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