Miami (AP) — A federal judge heard arguments Wednesday over whether to stop construction of an immigration detention center — built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — because it didn’t follow environmental laws.
Until the laws are followed, environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe said U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams should issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction. The suit claims the project threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars’ worth of environmental restoration.
The lawsuit in Miami against federal and state authorities is one of two legal challenges to the South Florida detention center which was built more than a month ago by the state of Florida on an isolated airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County.
A second lawsuit brought by civil rights groups says detainees’ constitutional rights are being violated since they are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has canceled bond hearings. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Aug. 18.
The detention facility has ignored a review process required by the National Environmental Policy Act, and the lawsuit was meant to assert the public’s rights to make sure environmental harm does not occur, Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, testified in court Wednesday.
