The entrance of "Alligator Alcatraz" ICE detention center in the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida August 3, 2025. (REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui)
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A federal judge on Thursday temporarily halted new construction at an immigration detention facility in Florida dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” while a lawsuit over its environmental impact plays out.
At hearing in Miami, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams blocked new construction at the site in the Florida Everglades through Aug. 12 but did not suspend operations or otherwise interfere with the work of officials there. Williams was expected to issue a written order later on Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the ruling.
President Donald Trump has raved about the quick construction of the facility, which sits 37 miles (60 km) from Miami in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons.
The Republican president has invoked that fearsome imagery as he presses forward with hardline immigration enforcement policies and mass deportations.
In lawsuits, environmental groups have said construction at the site threatens fragile wetland ecosystem and violates environmental protection laws.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya, Ismail Shakil, Jack Queen and Tom Hals, Editing by Franklin Paul and Alistair Bell)
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