Overview

• The restraining order bars any new filling, paving or infrastructure at the former Dade-Collier airstrip camp for 14 days while allowing the existing facility and its roughly 1,000 detainees to remain in place.
• U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams granted the temporary halt after hearing that environmental reviews required under NEPA and the Endangered Species Act were bypassed during the rapid, state-led build-out.
• Plaintiffs led by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe argue the 5,000-bed tented center threatens endangered Florida panthers, bats and ongoing Everglades restoration efforts.
• State attorneys counter that Florida’s funding and management of the migrant camp exempt it from federal environmental review, while challengers maintain its exclusive federal immigration enforcement function triggers NEPA requirements.
• A separate civil-rights lawsuit alleging detainees lack access to lawyers, bond hearings and formal charges is set for a hearing on August 18.