Overview

• Friends of the Everglades filed a state public records lawsuit alleging the Florida Division of Emergency Management withheld the FEMA grant application and award documents for the Everglades detention facility.
• The suit says Florida applied for federal reimbursement on Aug. 7 but did not disclose that filing to the district court or the appellate panel considering whether the project required federal review.
• Federal officials this month approved about $608 million in FEMA reimbursement for construction and operations at the site known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
• A September order by a three‑judge appellate panel stayed a district judge’s wind‑down injunction, noting at the time that federal money had not yet been committed and that an environmental impact statement could be required if it were.
• In separate court filings, state and federal defendants contend many attorney‑access complaints stemmed from a clerical error in visitation policy that has been corrected, though immigration lawyers say confidential, timely meetings remain difficult.