‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Can Continue Operating, Appeals Court Says

Two environmental groups, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, joined the Miccosukee Tribe in challenging the construction.

Work progresses on a new migrant detention facility dubbed Alligator Alcatraz at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades in Ochopee, Fla., on July 4, 2025. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File

A federal appeals court on Tuesday pulled a judge’s previous order to dismantle the high-profile detention center in the Florida Everglades for illegal immigrants, known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

In a 2–1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit sided with the Trump administration’s argument that there was minimal federal involvement in the facility’s construction, so a federal environmental review was not warranted.