Judge who halted Alligator Alcatraz construction to weigh push to shut it down
Editor’s note: Read the Miami Herald’s coverage of Tuesday’s hearing here.
Environmental advocacy groups that say Alligator Alcatraz could cause “irreparable” harm to the Everglades will be back in Miami federal court on Tuesday to try to convince a judge that their concerns warrant temporarily shutting the immigration detention center down.
Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice and the Miccosukee Tribe are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop operations at the site, which was erected hastily over a month ago on an airstrip within the Big Cypress National Preserve. The groups sued the Trump and DeSantis administrations for, they say, dodging a federal law requiring environmental review. The injunction would stop the use of the site as a detention center and halt any further construction there until there’s a verdict in the lawsuit.
The hearing on the injunction started last Wednesday and stretched into Thursday before District Judge Kathleen Williams paused proceedings for several days. The environmental groups put expert witnesses on the stand to speak on the detention center’s possible impacts to the wetland ecosystem surrounding the site, as well as witnesses who had been at the site before and after it became Alligator Alcatraz to lay out the physical changes around the area.
Williams, after attempting to work out some scheduling conflicts, issued a temporary restraining order on construction at the site until Aug. 28 so new information on issues like paving or lighting at the site wouldn’t date witness testimony as the hearing continues.
READ MORE: Alligator Alcatraz could cause Florida panther habitat loss, expert says in court
There are still many witnesses left to go on the groups’ initial list for the hearing and the state and federal attorneys’ list.
Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, has yet to take the stand. The Miccosukee Tribe also hasn’t had the opportunity yet to provide testimony from Tribe members, several of whom are directors of environmental initiatives for the Miccosukee.
The Miccosukee have over a dozen tribal villages around Alligator Alcatraz, including a school bus stop 1,000 feet from the facility’s entrance, according to court documents.
On the state side, Ian Gadea Guidicelli, chief of response at the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is running the facility, is set to testify as of now. Dave Kerner is also on the list — he’s the director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and will likely speak to whether there’s been an increase in traffic around Alligator Alcatraz.
Federal attorneys have only listed one witness of their own: Santiago Fuentes, assistant director of field operations at Immigration Enforcement and Customs.
The federal attorneys have argued the Department of Homeland Security shouldn’t even be a part of the case because they say the federal government is not involved in construction and operations at Alligator Alcatraz. Those claims have spurred further confusion about who’s in charge and what laws or agreements govern the site.
In order for Judge Kathleen Williams to issue an injunction, the environmental groups will have to prove that there will be irreversible damage to the environment if operations at the site aren’t stopped, as well as a high likelihood of winning the case as a whole. The hearing will resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Judge who halted Alligator Alcatraz construction to weigh push to shut it down."