Three federal lawsuits have been filed over the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz. One challenges the conditions and lack of attorney access for people held there and remains active under a preliminary injunction. A second challenged Florida’s legal authority to run an immigration lockup and was voluntarily dismissed. A third challenged the facility’s construction on environmental grounds; a trial judge ordered operations to wind down, but the Eleventh Circuit reversed that order in April 2026 and sent the case back for further proceedings.
What the Facility Is
The Everglades Detention Facility opened in July 2025 on the grounds of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, about 36 miles from Miami. Governor Ron DeSantis authorized construction under emergency powers from a 2023 executive order, bypassing standard public hearings, local approvals, and environmental review. Florida’s Division of Emergency Management built and manages the site, sharing custodial authority with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.1Global Detention Project. Everglades Detention Facility Alligator Alcatraz Initial capacity was designed for roughly 3,000 detainees, with plans to expand to as many as 5,000.2PBS NewsHour. First Immigration Detainees Arrive at Alligator Alcatraz in Florida Everglades Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier coined the “Alligator Alcatraz” nickname.3ACLU. Floridas Secretive Immigration Detention Center Explained
The Access-to-Counsel Lawsuit: H.C.R. v. Noem
On July 16, 2025, the ACLU, the ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice filed a class action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on behalf of detainees and legal service providers. H.C.R. v. Noem alleges that the facility blocked meaningful access to legal counsel in violation of the First Amendment and denied due process under the Fifth Amendment.4ACLU. H.C.R. v. Noem
What the Lawsuit Alleges
According to court filings and detainee testimony, attorneys had to schedule in-person visits at least three days in advance, unlike the walk-in policies at federal facilities, and detainees were frequently transferred out just before scheduled meetings, effectively canceling them. ICE excluded the facility from its online detainee locator, so lawyers often could not confirm where their clients were.5WUSF. Alligator Alcatraz Detainees Continue Face Obstacles Meet With Lawyers Court Papers Allege
Phone calls to attorneys were placed on monitored, recorded lines, and witnesses testified that calls would drop the moment a detainee mentioned seeking legal help. Detainees said they were denied pens and paper and had to write attorneys’ phone numbers on walls and bunks using bars of soap. During videoconferences with lawyers, detainees were placed in cages that were not soundproof, with facility staff within earshot.6Miami Herald. Alligator Alcatraz Detainee Testimony
Two former detainees testified in federal court in Fort Myers about direct retaliation. A Colombian detainee said an officer told him not to bother fighting his case because it was “already lost.” A Haitian detainee testified he was pressured into signing deportation documents he could not understand and was then put on a plane without being allowed to consult an attorney.7CBS News Miami. Alligator Alcatraz Detainees Testimony
Rulings So Far
On August 18, 2025, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz issued a 47-page decision splitting the case. He dismissed the Fifth Amendment claim as moot, finding the Trump administration had designated the Krome North Processing Center to handle the detainees’ immigration hearings and that many original plaintiffs had been transferred out. He allowed the First Amendment claims about confidential attorney-client communications to proceed.8Courthouse News. Judge Partially Tosses Immigrant Legal Rights Claims From Alligator Alcatraz Suit He then transferred the case to the Middle District of Florida.9CNN. Alligator Alcatraz Lawsuit Split Decision
U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell then ordered the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint limited to First Amendment access-to-counsel claims, stripping out arguments about living conditions such as temperatures, hygiene, and medication.10Gulf Coast News Now. Florida Alligator Alcatraz Lawsuit Legal Rights
On March 27, 2026, Judge Chappell certified the case as a class action covering all current and future detainees at the facility and granted a preliminary injunction. The order required ICE to provide confidential, unmonitored outgoing legal phone calls; publish information about how attorneys and detainees could contact one another; and maintain a policy allowing attorneys to visit without prescheduling.11ACLU. Federal Court Orders ICE to Provide People Detained Access to Legal Counsel at Alligator Alcatraz Detention Facility
Compliance has been contested. On April 10, 2026, plaintiffs filed a notice of noncompliance. Officials later created a webpage and published a legal visitation guide, but the new guidance still required attorneys to request visits in advance and wait for confirmation. At an April 13 status conference, Judge Chappell described the government’s behavior as “sandbagging” and said its guidance “falls short of the court’s order.”12Bloomberg Government News. Judge Faults Sandbagging With Late Updates in Immigration Case As of mid-2026, the injunction remains in effect, with the state and federal governments seeking to block its requirements and the ACLU pressing for enforcement.13WPTV. Alligator Alcatraz Closure Talks Spark Reaction From Plaintiffs in Two Major Federal Lawsuits
The State Authority Lawsuit: M.A. v. Guthrie
On August 22, 2025, a separate ACLU-led coalition filed M.A. v. Guthrie in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, challenging Florida’s power to operate an immigration detention center at all. The plaintiffs argued that Congress reserved custody of immigration detainees for the federal government and that the 287(g) agreements Florida relied on were limited to narrow enforcement tasks under federal supervision. They alleged the state had “sub-delegated” authority to private contractors ineligible for the program and that officers had received only a few hours of online training compared to the weeks federal rules require.14ACLU. New Lawsuit Challenges Floridas Authority to Detain People at Notorious Alligator Alcatraz Detention Center
The case ended without reaching its central question. On December 18, 2025, the court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction without ruling on whether the facility was authorized by 287(g) agreements. By January 12, 2026, the case had been voluntarily dismissed, with no relief granted and the proposed class mooted before certification.15Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. M.A. v. Guthrie
The Environmental Lawsuit: Friends of the Everglades v. Noem
On June 27, 2025, before the facility opened, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against DHS, ICE, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Miami-Dade County. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida later joined. The plaintiffs alleged the facility was built without the environmental impact review required by the National Environmental Policy Act. Construction had cleared 20 acres of wetlands for a site with a 1,200-car parking lot, fencing, and lighting, on land that is more than 96 percent wetlands and borders the Big Cypress National Preserve.16Everglades.org. Alligator Alcatraz Lawsuit
The Miccosukee Tribe’s Claims
The Tribe raised distinct claims. The facility sits near ten traditional Miccosukee villages, with the closest just 1,000 feet away, on land the Tribe considers sacred because it sheltered their ancestors during the Seminole Wars and remains essential for gathering medicines, holding ceremonies, and burying their dead. Light pollution from the facility, the Tribe argued, interferes with star orientation used in religious practices.17Mother Jones. Court Clears Path for Alligator Alcatraz on Sacred Tribal Land Tribal Chairman Talbert Cypress compared the construction to razing a church and replacing it with a prison. The Tribe also said neither the Trump nor DeSantis administrations consulted with them as a federally recognized sovereign nation before breaking ground.18Inside Climate News. Florida Alligator Alcatraz in Heart of Miccosukee Tribe Ancestral Lands
The Injunction and Its Reversal
On August 7, 2025, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a 14-day temporary restraining order halting new construction at the site, including fencing, paving, lighting, and placement of fill. She found the plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on their claim that the project was a major federal action requiring environmental review.19Jurist. Federal Judge Halts Construction at Alligator Alcatraz for 14 Days While Operations Continue That order led to a broader preliminary injunction from Judge Williams, who found “unequivocal” evidence of federal involvement and ordered the facility to wind down operations.20WLRN. Alligator Alcatraz Lawsuit Everglades Advocates
The government appealed, and the Eleventh Circuit paused the injunction while the appeal proceeded. On April 21, 2026, a three-judge panel vacated Judge Williams’ injunction entirely. Chief Judge William Pryor wrote that the environmental groups and the Tribe had failed to prove the facility was under federal control, reasoning that “Florida, not federal, officials constructed the facility” and that no final federal agency action had occurred because DHS had not yet decided to fund it.21OPB. Appeals Court Keeps Alligator Alcatraz Open Rejecting Need for Federal Environmental Review Judge Nancy Abudu dissented, writing that the facility’s sole purpose was to house people under federal immigration authority and that the ruling was “just plain wrong.”22E&E News. Appeals Court Overturns Injunction That Aimed to Shut Alligator Alcatraz
The case has been sent back to Judge Williams’ court. Plaintiffs have notified defendants of their intent to bring new claims under the Endangered Species Act, though those claims had not yet been formally filed as of June 2026.23Center for Biological Diversity. Alligator Alcatraz Could Shut Down in June
Where Things Stand
Reports surfaced in May 2026 that DHS and Florida were in talks to wind down the facility because of its high operating costs. A DHS spokesperson denied the agency was pressuring the state to close it, and Governor DeSantis said there was “no official word” on closure. U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost reported after a late-May site visit that the facility appeared to be winding down, with roughly 600 detainees remaining. As of early June, DHS stated that “daily operations at Alligator Alcatraz continue as usual.”24Spectrum News 13. Operations at Immigration Detention Facility Alligator Alcatraz Continue as Usual DHS Says
The access-to-counsel case remains active in the Middle District of Florida, with the March 2026 preliminary injunction still in effect and compliance disputes ongoing. The environmental case is back before Judge Williams for further litigation, with plaintiffs preparing Endangered Species Act claims. Both sets of plaintiffs have said they will continue their cases whether or not the facility closes.13WPTV. Alligator Alcatraz Closure Talks Spark Reaction From Plaintiffs in Two Major Federal Lawsuits