Friends of the Everglades Lawsuit Against Alligator Alcatraz

The Friends of the Everglades lawsuit against the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center is a federal environmental case filed on June 27, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, arguing that state and federal officials built a mass immigration detention facility inside the Big Cypress National Preserve without any of the environmental reviews the law requires. A district judge agreed and ordered operations wound down in August 2025. On April 21, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit vacated that injunction, and the underlying case is now back before the district court.¹

What the Lawsuit Claims

Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed the complaint together, represented by Earthjustice along with attorneys Scott Hiaasen and Paul Schwiep of Coffey Burlington. The case is Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-22896.²

Four defendants are named: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie, and Miami-Dade County, which owns the airport property where the facility sits.³

The complaint raises four core claims. It alleges the federal government violated the National Environmental Policy Act by authorizing what plaintiffs call a major federal action without preparing an environmental impact statement or assessment. It alleges Administrative Procedure Act violations, arguing agencies acted arbitrarily by skipping public notice and comment. It contends the Florida Division of Emergency Management exceeded its authority under state law by converting the site into a detention facility without proper legislative authorization. And it argues Miami-Dade County violated its own land-use codes by allowing county property to be used for a purpose local rules do not contemplate.⁴

On July 11, 2025, the plaintiffs served formal notice of intent to add claims under the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and national parks law.⁵ Days later, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida moved to intervene, adding cultural and sovereignty claims tied to its 15 villages inside the Big Cypress National Preserve, one of which sits roughly 1,000 feet from the facility boundary.⁶

The Environmental Stakes at the Site

The detention center occupies the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, roughly 55 miles west of Miami on the eastern edge of the Big Cypress National Preserve. Executive Director Eve Samples of Friends of the Everglades said the site is 96 percent wetlands, and about 20 acres of new asphalt were laid to build it.⁷

Endangered species in the area include the Florida panther, with four known dens documented within 12 kilometers of the project, and the Florida bonneted bat, one of North America’s most critically endangered mammals. The eastern indigo snake and wood stork are also cited. Plaintiffs argue no federal agency initiated the Endangered Species Act Section 7 consultation that would ordinarily be required, and that industrial-scale lighting at the facility threatens the preserve’s internationally recognized dark night skies.⁸⁹

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis authorized the project using emergency powers under a 2023 executive order on illegal immigration. The Florida Division of Emergency Management took control of the airport on June 23, 2025, and construction began immediately, targeting a July 1 opening. Miami-Dade County had appraised the land at approximately $190 million; the state offered $20 million.¹⁰

How the Case Has Moved Through the Courts

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. On August 7, 2025, she issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking further expansion at the site, including new lighting, paving, filling, excavating, fencing, and additional buildings or tents. The order left ongoing operations untouched.¹¹

In granting the TRO, Judge Williams rejected the government’s position that NEPA did not apply because the facility was state-managed. She noted that administration officials themselves called it an ICE facility, and said the arrangement could reflect a “deliberate effort by federal officials to avoid having to comply with NEPA.”¹¹

On August 21, 2025, Judge Williams issued an 82-page order granting a preliminary injunction in part. It required state and federal officials to halt all construction, stop bringing in new detainees, and wind down existing operations within 60 days.⁹

The defendants appealed. On September 4, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit stayed the injunction, finding plaintiffs were “likely to fail on their NEPA and APA claims” because the project lacked the federal funding needed to qualify as a major federal action.¹

On April 21, 2026, a divided three-judge panel vacated the preliminary injunction outright. Chief Judge William Pryor, joined by Judge Andrew Brasher, held that plaintiffs had not shown the facility was a major federal action under NEPA, reasoning that the project involved no or minimal federal funding and no federal control over construction decisions, since Florida retained final authority over the site’s size, materials, and location. The majority also found that plaintiffs failed to point to a specific “final agency action” under the APA, describing their theory as an attempt to “assemble a constellation of agency choices” into one. The court further ruled that the portion of the injunction barring the transfer of new detainees violated 8 U.S.C. § 1252(f)(1), which restricts courts from enjoining immigration enforcement operations.¹²

Judge Nancy Abudu dissented. She argued the majority substituted its own factual findings for the district court’s rather than applying the deferential abuse-of-discretion standard, and that Florida’s participation in the federal immigration detention scheme subjected the facility to federal control sufficient to trigger NEPA.¹³ The case was remanded to the district court for further proceedings, including on venue.¹

The FEMA Funding Question at the Heart of the Case

Whether the facility is federally funded and federally controlled is the pivotal question, because it determines whether federal environmental law applies at all. That question grew more complicated after the Eleventh Circuit’s September 2025 stay.

On September 30, 2025, FEMA awarded Florida $608.4 million under its Detention Support Grant Program, a 2025 initiative created specifically to reimburse the state for operations at “Alligator Alcatraz” and other state-run detention sites.¹⁴ The Eleventh Circuit had granted its stay on September 4, 2025, based in part on the assertion that Florida had not yet applied for federal funds. Friends of the Everglades later obtained records showing that the Florida Division of Emergency Management had submitted a grant application to FEMA on August 7, 2025, nearly a month before the stay, and had not disclosed that fact to the court or to plaintiffs.¹⁵

FEMA lifted an environmental review hold on the grant in March 2026, and Florida received its first reimbursement payment of $58 million on May 18, 2026. Grant rules allow the funds to cover operational costs such as staff salaries, meals, and medical supplies at $249 per detainee per night, but bar their use for construction or facility modifications.¹⁶¹⁴

Where the Case Stands

As of mid-2026, the primary lawsuit is pending in the Southern District of Florida before Judge Kathleen Williams, with the last known filing on February 27, 2026.¹⁷ The Eleventh Circuit’s April 2026 decision vacated the preliminary injunction but did not resolve the underlying claims, which return to the district court along with the venue question. The facility has cost Florida taxpayers at least $640 million, with operating costs estimated at $1.2 million per day, and a May 2026 congressional press release referenced the facility’s “reported closure.”¹⁸

Other Lawsuits Involving the Same Facility

Two separate cases are sometimes conflated with the Friends of the Everglades suit but raise different claims.

C.M. v. Noem, filed July 16, 2025, by the ACLU, the ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice, challenges detention conditions and access to legal counsel. It was transferred to the Middle District of Florida before Judge Sheri Polster Chappell, who on March 27, 2026, provisionally certified a class of current and future detainees and ordered the government to provide unmonitored legal phone calls and adequate phone access.¹⁹

On May 27, 2026, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a separate Clean Air Act suit in the Southern District of Florida, alleging the facility’s diesel generators emit hundreds of tons of pollutants annually, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, benzene, and formaldehyde, without required permits. The suit seeks civil penalties of up to $124,426 per day of violation.²⁰

Friends of the Everglades also filed a public records lawsuit against the Florida Division of Emergency Management in Leon County Circuit Court on October 14, 2025. That case eventually produced nearly 3,000 documents related to the FEMA grant, including the records showing the August 2025 application date.¹⁵

1
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Friends of the Everglades v. Noem
2
Earthjustice. Groups Sue to Protect Everglades From Reckless Detention Center
3
Center for Biological Diversity. Friends of the Everglades and CBD v. DHS and ICE Complaint
4
Findlaw. Friends of the Everglades v. Noem
5
Friends of the Everglades. New Legal Filing Over Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and National Parks Law
6
Florida Phoenix. Miccosukee Tribe Wants to Join Lawsuit to Halt the Everglades Immigrant Detention Center
7
Marco Eagle. Alligator Alcatraz: Eve Samples Is One of the Faces Behind the Fight
8
The Wildlife Society. Alligator Alcatraz Could Threaten Fragile Ecosystem
9
Earthjustice. Judge Halts Operations at Everglades Detention Center With Preliminary Injunction
10
NPR. Alligator Alcatraz Florida Everglades Migrant Detention Center
11
NPR. Judge Halts Construction Alligator Alcatraz Florida
12
Courthouse News Service. Eleventh Circuit Alligator Alcatraz Injunction Ruling
13
Florida Phoenix. Everglades Detention Camp Doesn’t Have to Comply With Federal Environmental Law, Appeals Court Says
14
WUSF. Trump Admin Pays Florida First $58 Million in Alligator Alcatraz Reimbursements
15
Friends of the Everglades. Complaint Against FDEM for Public Records Violations
16
Florida Phoenix. FEMA Lifts Environmental Hold on $608M Grant for Alligator Alcatraz
17
CourtListener. Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Noem Docket
18
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Wasserman Schultz Oversight Visit to Everglades Detention Center
19
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. C.M. v. Noem
20
Center for Biological Diversity. Lawsuit Filed Over Alligator Alcatraz Air Pollution