A federal judge on Thursday ordered an indefinite stop for new construction in an immigration preventive facility, which has been dubbed by Florida officials “Elegator Alkatraz,” And stopping any new detainees from bringing to the site, siding with environmental groups who said that the feature is endangered by Everglades and its wildlife.
The decision is a setback for the Republican state government in Florida and its aggressive efforts have been included to assist the hardcore immigration agenda of the Trump administration, including thousands of state police as federal immigration officers.
The order of the US District Court Judge Kathleen Williams did not need Florida officials to completely stop operating in Elegator Alkatraz, allowing the state to continue using existing structures to detain immigrants on suspicion of illegal being in the US. But Williams stopped any more detainees from transferring to the site – dashing the plan to expand the detention center.
The ruling states that state and federal officials cannot add any new tents to the site or do not complete any floor or excavation, although they can repair existing features for security purposes.
It also directs them to remove temporary fences, light fixtures and generators from the site within 60 days. The judge said that housing facilities may remain.
Williams wrote that, for decades, “Every Florida Governor, each Florida Senator, and countless local and national political figures, including the President, have publicly promised their uneven support for restoration, protection and conservation of Evely.
The Makshift Detention Facility-which was largely an abandoned airspace-is one of the few places and jails that the Republican-led states have offered the Trump administration to convert them into immigration prevention centers. In officials Indiana And Nebraska Facilities in their states have also been allowed to catch immigrants facing exile.
Thursday’s decision stems from a lawsuit filed by the Microsuki tribe and environmental workers who challenged the operation in crocodile Alkatraz on an environmental grounds. Everglads are an ecological sensitive area home to endangered species, and many fluoridians rely on Everglads as a source of drinking water.
The plaintiff argued that compulsory environmental reviews in the federal law should have been completed before the establishment of the site.
Florida officials have argued that crocodile Alkatraz is not subject to those federal environmental needs because the facility is run by the state. The Trump administration has said that it will reimburse Florida for efforts to use federal funds.
Williams stopped further construction in Elegator Alkatraz earlier this month, but for only two weeks.
A Separate suit Everglades are also playing outside the legal rights of the people organized in the facility.
The case was partially dismissed by the US District Court Judge Rodolfo Ruiz earlier this week, as the Trump administration nominated an immigration court to listen to the claims of those detained in Elegator Alkatraz, one of the main concerns raised by the trump. But Ruiz focused another part of the case on the right to in-tradition and confidential legal consultation of the prisoners to transfer the case to another federal judge to prosecute.
