Federal judge blocks Florida from further expansion of 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention facility

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday blocking Florida from further expanding the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center built in the middle of the Florida Everglades U S District Judge Kathleen Williams' injunction formalized the temporary halt she had ordered two weeks ago Onlookers continued to testify over multiple days in a hearing to determine whether construction of the facility should stop until the circumstance is decided Advocates have argued that the expansion of the facility violated environmental laws LAWSUITS THREATEN TO UPEND ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ OPERATIONSEnvironmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe stated that further construction and operations at the facility should be stopped until state and federal officers complied with environmental laws Their lawsuit argued that the detention center threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that have protected plants and animals and that it would reverse billions of dollars in environmental restoration Attorneys for the state and federal governments claimed that the construction and operation of the facility was under the state of Florida despite its use for holding federal detainees meaning the federal environmental law would not apply The judge determined that the detention center was at least a joint partnership between the state and federal regime Williams explained she expected the number of detainees in the facility to dip within days through transfers to other facilities and that fencing lighting and generators should be removed She revealed the state and federal defendants cannot bring anyone other than current detainees at the facility onto the property The order does not halt modifications or repairs to existing facilities which the judge revealed are solely for the purpose of increasing safety or mitigating environmental or other risks at the site FLORIDA TO OPEN DEPORTATION DEPOT AT SHUTTERED PRISON WEEKS AFTER LAUNCHING ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ FACILITYThe preliminary injunction includes those who are in progressing concert or participation with the state of Florida or federal defendants or their officers agents or employees she wrote State administrators failed to sufficiently explain why the facility needed to be in the middle of the Florida Everglades What is apparent however is that in their haste to construct the detention camp the State did not consider alternative locations Williams noted Florida agents criticized the ruling on Thursday Just this week a judge in the same district as Judge Williams refused to hear a event because the Southern District of Florida was the improper venue for suits about Alligator Alcatraz Jeremy Redfern a spokesperson for the Florida attorney general's office noted in a report to Fox News Once again she oversteps her authority and we will appeal this unlawful decision Florida Gov Ron DeSantis revealed the fix was in and we knew this judge was not giving us a fair shake We totally expected an adverse ruling he recounted Fox News And we also knew we were going to this instant appeal and get that decision stayed So we will ultimately be productive in this It's not going to stop our resolve We're going to continue to do what we need to do to help the Trump administration remove illegal aliens from our country You know that's the mandate that they have So we anticipated this but I don't think it's going to be insurmountable in the end President Donald Trump toured the facility last month and suggested it could be used as a model for future facilities across the country to aid his efforts to detain and deport movers The detention center was hastily built about two months ago at a single-runway training airport in the middle of the Everglades It now holds nearly detainees but was designed to eventually hold up to in temporary tents The facility's large white tents feature rows of bunkbeds surrounded by chain-link cages Detainees complained of worms in the food toilets not flushing floors flooded with fecal waste and insects everywhere The air conditioners also sometimes abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat Detainees also reportedly go days without showers or receiving their prescription medicine and they are only permitted to speak to lawyers and loved ones by phone Fox News' Danamarie McNicholl-Carter and The Associated Press contributed to this record