Overview

• U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction that halts further construction and bars any additional detainees, ordering removal within 60 days of temporary fencing, industrial lighting, generators, and sewage and waste systems, with only safety-related repairs allowed.
• The court found the rushed build likely violated NEPA given federal funding, standards and direction, citing evidence of ecosystem damage such as light-driven Florida panther habitat loss and curtailed Miccosukee Tribal access.
• Florida filed an immediate notice of appeal, and detainee transfers to other facilities were already underway as the judge outlined a programmatic drawdown of the site.
• Existing tents and housing may remain during the wind-down, but authorities are prohibited from adding new tents, paving, or excavation at the Everglades location.
• A separate detainee-rights case was partly dismissed or moved by Judge Rodolfo Ruiz, while claims seeking confidential, in-person legal consultations continue in a different federal venue.