Alligator Alcatraz, the notorious immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, will be allowed to resume operations after a new court ruling.
A federal appeals court panel in Atlanta ruled 2-1 on Thursday to stay US District Judge Kathleen Williams's order to end operations indefinitely at the controversial center, saying it was in the public interest to keep it open.
Williams, an Obama-appointed federal judge, had issued a preliminary injunction last month ordering operations at the facility to be wound down by the end of October, with detainees transferred to other facilities and equipment and fencing removed.
Her ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe, who used the National Environmental Policy Act to challenge the federal government's use of the facility.
The law requires that the federal government conduct an environmental impact study before construction can begin on any project, and the plaintiffs claim the project could cause harm to the delicate ecosystem of the Everglades.
