A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked a lower court ruling requiring Alligator Alcatraz, an immigration detention facility built in Florida, to be dismantled. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted requests from the State of Florida and the Department of Homeland Security to stay the preliminary injunction. The preliminary injunction would have forced the facility to shut down its operations within 60 days. As a result, the ruling will allow Alligator Alcatraz to stay open while the lawsuit challenging the facility moves through the court system. “The mission continues at Alligator Alcatraz. The media was wrong. The leftist judge has been overturned. Florida will keep leading the way,” Gov. DeSantis said. Check it out: The mission continues at Alligator Alcatraz. The media was wrong. The leftist judge has been overturned. Florida will keep leading the way. pic.twitter.com/Ik2fJnqXIP — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 4, 2025 Bloomberg Law has more: Writing for the panel, Judge Barbara Lagoa rebuked the lower court’s finding that the migrant detention center qualified as a major federal action that required an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. DHS only announced it would commit $600 million to the facility, but has yet to finalize that funding, she said. The US District Court for the Southern District of Florida classified the detention center as federal operation based on statements from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) that the state may one day be reimbursed for the construction, but “such expectancy is insufficient as a matter of law to federalize the action,” the appeals court said. Judge Kathleen Williams last month ordered the federal and state agencies to halt expansion of the facility and wind it down as attrition warranted, finding the detention center on a former airstrip to be irreparably harming the surrounding the Big Cypress National Preserve. Environmental groups sued to stop operations, arguing DHS’s US Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t offer a compelling emergency reason under NEPA to construct a facility that can hold up to 5,000 detainees in a protected ecosystem. “Federal appeals court (11th circuit) blocks Obama appointed federal judge Kathleen Williams’ order to close down Alligator Alcatraz & halt all construction there. Additionally, she is blocked from proceeding with the case until FL appeal is complete. Big W for FL & DHS,” Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin said. BREAKING: Federal appeals court (11th circuit) blocks Obama appointed federal judge Kathleen Williams’ order to close down Alligator Alcatraz & halt all construction there. Additionally, she is blocked from proceeding with the case until FL appeal is complete. Big W for FL & DHS. pic.twitter.com/BMJk237jMP — Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 4, 2025 CBS News provided further info: The majority ruling was written by Judge Barbara Lagoa and joined by Judge Elizabeth Branch, both of whom were nominated in President Trump’s first term. Judge Adalberto Jordan, an Obama nominee, dissented. DHS lauded the ruling, calling it a “win for the American people, the rule of law and common sense.” “This lawsuit was never about the environmental impacts of turning a developed airport into a detention facility,” the department wrote in a post on X. “It has and will always be about open-borders activists and judges trying to keep law enforcement from removing dangerous criminal aliens from our communities, full stop.”