A protester stands outside the migrant detention dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Facility, Saturday, July 12, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Alexandra Rodriguez)
Environmentalists’ lawsuit to halt Alligator Alcatraz filed in wrong court, Florida official says
Florida’s top emergency official asked a federal judge on Monday to resist a request by environmentalists to halt an immigration detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz in the middle of the Florida Everglades because their lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction.
A protester stands outside the migrant detention dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Facility, Saturday, July 12, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Alexandra Rodriguez)
Florida’s top emergency official asked a federal judge on Monday to resist a request by environmentalists to halt an immigration detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz in the middle of the Florida Everglades because their lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction.
Even though the property is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida’s southern district is the wrong venue for the lawsuit since the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is in the state’s middle district. Decisions about the facility also were made in Tallahassee and Washington, Kevin Guthrie, executive director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in a court filing.
“And all the detention facilities, all the buildings, and all the paving at issue are sited in Collier County, not Miami-Dade,” Guthrie said.
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Environmental groups in Florida’s southern district last month, asking for the project being built on an airstrip in the to be halted because the process didn’t follow state and federal environmental laws. A virtual hearing was being held Monday on the lawsuit.
Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands, while Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials have defended it as part of the to support President Donald Trump’s .
U.S. ѻýland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for coming forward with the idea, as the department looks to significantly expand its immigration detention capacity.
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