Overview

• A three-judge 11th Circuit panel voted 2–1 to stay U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’s injunction, allowing the Everglades detention site to continue operating during the appeal.
• The majority concluded the facility is funded and operated by Florida, placing it outside NEPA’s scope, while Judge Adalberto Jordan dissented, pointing to ongoing reimbursement claims.
• The blocked district court order had required transfers of detainees and dismantling of fencing, lighting, generators and other equipment by late October.
• Florida has opened a second site, the “Deportation Depot” at the former Baker Correctional Institution, which is holding about 115 detainees and can house roughly 1,300 people.
• Gov. Ron DeSantis and DHS praised the ruling, as Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe vowed to continue litigating the case on the merits.