Overview
- The Eleventh Circuit, which ruled Tuesday, threw out a judge’s order to wind down Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz detention camp and sent the case back to the trial court.
- A 2–1 majority said Florida built and runs the site with state money on state land, so the National Environmental Policy Act (which requires federal environmental review) does not apply absent federal control or funding.
- Chief Judge William Pryor wrote that Florida had received no federal reimbursement when the lower court acted, and that declining to conduct a review was not a final federal agency action under the law.
- Judge Nancy Abudu dissented, arguing immigration detention is a federal responsibility and warning of detainee harm, as lawyers recently alleged guards beat and pepper‑sprayed people held at the site.
- Environmental groups say newly obtained records show FEMA approved $608 million for the project, a claim they will press on remand because proven federal funding could trigger the very review they seek; the camp was built in eight days at the Dade‑Collier airstrip near sensitive panther and bat habitat and can hold about 3,000 people.