Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court Thursday overturned a judge's order to shut down Florida's immigration detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by Department of Homeland Security officials.
The opinion issued by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams to wind down operations at the South Florida Detention Facility at Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee.
Environmental groups led by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe sued over the construction of the facility in May, saying the government didn't perform a required environmental review first. They cited a federal law called the National Environmental Policy Act, which says the government must conduct such reviews before construction.
In a 2-1 opinion, the Atlanta-based appellate court said the construction of the facility can't be challenged under NEPA because the state of Florida runs the prison, not the federal government.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appealed the lower court's August order based on these grounds. He praised the decision in a post on X accusing Williams of being a "leftist judge."
