A federal judge has temporarily blocked the ongoing construction at "Alligator Alcatraz," an already-in-use detention facility in Florida. The project, which was originally spearheaded by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and is technically a state-owned endeavor using state land, has continued to expand in the months after the Trump administration began using it as part of a joint venture to house and deport illegal immigrants.
Citing "environmental harm," the judge put a temporary restraining order in place, blocking any further progress from being made for the time being.
ALSO SEE: DeSantis Says Florida Preparing Second Detention Center for Illegal Immigrants
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams for the two-week pause in new construction at the facility in the Everglades followed a hearing in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups and joined by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians.
“We’re pleased that the judge saw the urgent need to put a pause on additional construction, and we look forward to advancing our ultimate goal of protecting the unique and imperiled Everglades ecosystem from further damage caused by this mass detention facility,” Eve Samples, executive director at Friends of the Everglades, said in a statement.
As of this writing, the specific ruling hasn't been uploaded to the docket yet, so what specific environmental laws the judge has deemed may have been violated isn't known yet. Many are going to suspect this is all just a cover to once again throw another roadblock up in the way of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement.
One of the Democrats who testified in favor of the plaintiffs didn't leave much to doubt on that front.
Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D), who testified at the hearing in support of the conservation groups, called the order “a necessary and welcome step in stopping a project that never should have been approved in the first place.”
“This facility is not only a threat to one of the most environmentally sensitive regions in the country. It is also a glaring example of how far the State of Florida will go to criminalize immigrants and ignore the long-term health of our natural resources,” Eskamani said in a statement.
Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-FL) giving a nod to the criminalizing of "immigrants" in a case that is supposed to be about environmental concerns is a dead giveaway. Whatever actual issues may exist, it's not a mystery what the real goal is here. In my opinion, this lawsuit is clearly a vehicle to kneecap ICE and to slow deportations of illegal immigrants.
Consider me less than convinced that there are any actual environmental problems with the project. The airfield has already been built for years, and the land where the tents were placed was an already developed part of the tarmac. I haven't seen any evidence that wastewater, the only thing that might be a real concern, is being dumped into the Everglades.
Still, I expect this Obama-appointed judge to rule in favor of the plaintiffs regardless of the facts on the ground. From there, it'll be immediately appealed, and we'll see where this goes. None of this will be a surprise to DeSantis or Trump.
Editor's Note: Radical leftist judges are doing everything they can to hamstring President Trump's agenda to make America great again.
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