OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
5:21 PM – Friday, September 5, 2025
A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the Florida immigration detention center “Alligator Alcatraz” to continue operating while a legal challenge against the state and the Trump administration proceeds through the courts.
Last month, an Obama-appointed federal district judge issued a temporary restraining order directing Florida and the federal government to halt the placement of illegal aliens at the facility.
However, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, blocked that order — allowing the center to remain open.
On Thursday, the judges ruled that the lawsuit, brought by environmental groups and a Native American tribe, “failed to state a viable claim” that Florida and the Department of Homeland Security violated federal environmental laws.
“Given that the federal government has an undisputed and wide-reaching interest in combatting illegal immigration, and that illegal immigration is a matter of national security and public safety, we think the injunction issued below goes against the public interest,” the majority wrote in Thursday’s decision.
Soon after, the ruling was praised by both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.)
“Today’s order is a win for the American people, the rule of law and common sense,” the Department of Homeland Security posted on X. “This lawsuit was never about the environmental impacts of turning a developed airport into a detention facility. It has and will always be about open-borders activists and judges trying to keep law enforcement from removing dangerous criminal aliens from our communities, full stop.”
“The mission continues on immigration enforcement. The media was giddy that somehow Alligator Alcatraz was ‘shutting down.’ And we told them that wasn’t true,” DeSantis said in a video message. “There have been illegal aliens continuing to be there and being removed and returned to their home country. But they ran with the narrative because some leftist judge ruled, implausibly, that somehow Florida wasn’t allowed to use our own property to help the federal government in this important mission.”
“So Alligator Alcatraz is, in fact, like we’ve always said, open for business. The mission continues and we’re going to continue leading the way when it comes to immigration enforcement,” DeSantis added.
The Trump administration has collaborated with states nationwide to open similar detention facilities, including the Cornhusker Clink in Nebraska and the Speedway Slammer in Indiana.
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