Protesters outside the July 2 opening of Florida’s so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” ICE detention center. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker
Environmental groups are facing hurdles in their lawsuit to stop further construction and detention of additional people at the state-run immigrant detention center in the Everglades.

The federal court hasn’t and won’t act as quickly as the groups want in the litigation against the speedy, eight-day construction of the detention center on an old airstrip. Before making their case for an emergency action, the environmental groups must defeat an attempt by the DeSantis and Trump administrations to get the case dismissed or transferred to another court.

The dispute over the facts, including the degree of involvement by the federal government, and the venue fight require the new judge, Kathleen Williams of the Southern District of Florida, to take a longer time to make a decision, that judge said during a Monday hearing.

She had taken over the lawsuit brought by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday, after the previous judge, Jose Martinez, recused himself.

It has been nearly a month since the groups sued the Trump and DeSantis administrations and Miami-Dade County, which owns the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, claiming construction of the center violates a federal law requiring analysis of potential environmental harms and that the state and federal governments proceeded without public input.

“I understand the plaintiffs have been waiting to have a hearing in front of a judge and have been emphatic about the need for quick resolution but, again, Judge Martinez’s conflict arose with some later filed pleading. Nobody saw that,” Williams said.

Williams will decide whether to carry on with the suit, to dismiss it, or send it to the Middle District of Florida following a July 30 hearing.

Paul Schwiep, an attorney for the environmental groups, rejected the notion that the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in the wrong court.

“Suddenly, in an obvious attempt at judge-shopping, the state objects to Judge Williams’ ruling on this case,” he wrote in a press release Monday. “The state of Florida commandeered the detention center site from Miami-Dade County, the site is partially within Miami-Dade County, the county is a defendant, and the case was appropriately filed in Miami-Dade County.”

A separate hearing on whether to prohibit more construction at the tent and trailer site is scheduled for Aug. 6, even though  Schwiep urged the judge to take action Monday.

Schwiep emphasized to Williams reports of toilets that don’t flush, spoiled food, and non-potable water.

“The situation for those detainees is dire,” he said.

However, Williams said conditions at the detention center wouldn’t prompt her to act faster and were irrelevant to the case, adding that she saw this as environmental litigation and not an immigration challenge.

“Let me be clear, that is not before me at all,” she said, pointing to a class action detainees and their attorneys filed in the same court Thursday.

In June, Williams found Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in civil contempt of court after he flouted her order barring enforcement of the state’s law making it illegal for undocumented immigrants to enter or re-enter the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Uthmeier have labeled Williams an activist judge.

Uthmeier named the facility “Alligator Alcatraz,” and his reelection campaign website sells shirts, hats, and other merchandise with the name.

Additionally, Williams expressed frustration with the plaintiffs’ shifting goals in the case. Originally, the organizations asked the court to halt construction and continued operations. Following the opening of the detention center, the plaintiffs changed their ask, wanting the court to instead prevent the defendants from bringing more people to the site.

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida’s request to intervene in the lawsuit, seeking a shutdown of the detention center, is still pending.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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This article appears in Jul 17-23, 2025.