ORLANDO, FLA. — A federal appellate court last month blocked a lower court order to wind down operations at the immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" near the Everglades, allowing the facility to remain open for the time being. The case was returned to the lower court judge who now has jurisdiction over the lawsuit challenging the facility's existence.

The appellate court found that the Florida-run facility was not under federal control and did not need to comply with federal law requiring an environmental impact review. In August, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams had ordered that the facility wind down operations within two months.

Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity sued state and federal officials shortly after the facility opened, claiming the airstrip site in the Everglades was not given the environmental review required by federal law before its conversion to an immigration detention center. The DeSantis administration opened the facility in July 2025 to support the immigration crackdown by President Donald Trump's administration, and Trump visited the detention center in summer 2025.

Vendors supplying and helping run the facility were told it could close as soon as next month. Paul Schwiep, an attorney involved in the litigation, said the appellate court made clear that once Florida received federal reimbursement for the facility, it would have to comply with the federal environmental law. "Knowing that the same district judge who previously enjoined the operation would soon reassume oversight -- the defendants are now effectively waving the white flag," Schwiep said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he had not received any official word that federal authorities are going to stop sending detainees to the detention center. "We didn't build any permanent facilities down there because we knew it was going to be temporary," he said.

DeSantis said the state expected to be reimbursed by the federal government for $608 million, which had already been approved by FEMA. "There's no negotiations on that," he said.

U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, "This monument to cruelty, waste and environmental and tribal lands abuse should have never been built."