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Federal Judge Issues Ruling On Construction At Detention Center
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Federal Judge Issues Ruling On Construction At Detention Center

Alligator Alcatraz — Florida’s shipping-container fortress for illegal immigrants — just hit a federal legal wall. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams dropped a 14-day temporary restraining order on the facility, stopping all construction cold. That means no lighting, no paving, no excavation, no fencing — basically, if it involves a shovel or a power tool, it’s on ice.

The ruling doesn’t shut down the prison itself. Detainees already inside will stay put, and immigration authorities can still send in more. But environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe want more than just a pause. They’re pushing for a full preliminary injunction, arguing the site is chewing up protected wetlands, home to endangered plants and animals, and potentially undoing billions of dollars in Everglades restoration work.


Judge Williams even gave Florida’s attorneys an out, asking if they’d voluntarily stop construction to dodge the restraining order. Florida attorney Jesse Panuccio said he couldn’t make that promise — so, the gavel came down.

Now, the controversy over Alligator Alcatraz isn’t just about environmental law. Immigration hardliners like Gov. Ron DeSantis see it as a vital tool to detain criminal illegal immigrants and ease the load on border facilities. But critics paint a much darker picture. They cite reports of worms in detainees’ food, broken sanitation, brutal heat with no proper air conditioning, and overcrowding. One former employee even claimed punishments included chaining detainees to the ground or forcing them to stand in the sun for hours.


And that’s not the only legal front. Civil rights groups have launched a separate lawsuit claiming detainees are being denied attorney visits and in some cases held without formal charges.

This fits a broader pattern: nearly every Trump-era immigration push has been met with a swarm of lawsuits and restraining orders. But Alligator Alcatraz is shaping up to be one of the most combustible battles yet — part environmental showdown, part human rights clash, part border security fight.


For now, the shipping containers stay, the detainees stay, but the construction crews are sidelined.

Written by Arthur Higgens - August 10, 2025