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yesterday

Appeals Court Lets Florida’s Everglades Detention Site Operate as Funding Choice Looms

The stay rests on the absence of federal spending, creating a decision that could either forfeit reimbursement or trigger an environmental review.

A police officer urges Art Sennholtz, 80, center, and Christy Howard, 70, of Just Us Volusia to be careful of fast-moving traffic as they hold protest signs outside the entrance to an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz," Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Collier County, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Trucks come and go from the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Collier County, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
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Overview

  • An 11th Circuit panel voted 2–1 to stay U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ wind‑down order, allowing the Everglades facility to continue operating during the appeal.
  • The majority found the project is not a “major federal action” for now because no federal dollars have been expended, so NEPA review is not currently required.
  • Accepting reimbursement from DHS or FEMA could change that status and prompt an environmental analysis that might interrupt operations, while declining funds would leave the state to cover the costs.
  • Public records reviewed by the Associated Press show at least $405 million in vendor contracts tied to the site, which officials initially projected could cost $450 million annually to run.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem previously said funding would largely come from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, as environmental and civil‑rights suits continue and a second state-run detention center opened last week at a closed prison in north Florida.