One Obama judge just blocked Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz” with a move that exposed the Left’s real agenda

An activist federal judge just handed Donald Trump a major setback in his immigration crackdown.

She used environmental concerns as the perfect excuse to gut one of Trump’s most effective deportation facilities.

And this one Obama judge just blocked Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz” with a move that exposed the Left’s real agenda.

Obama-appointed judge targets Trump’s immigration enforcement with environmental lawsuit

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams – an Obama appointee, naturally – issued a preliminary injunction Thursday that effectively shuts down expansion of the Florida Everglades detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The 82-page ruling prevents any new detainees from being brought to the facility and orders the removal of critical infrastructure including generators, lighting, sewage systems, and fencing within 60 days.

Williams claimed the facility poses environmental threats to the Everglades ecosystem, writing that “the project creates irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area.”

The lawsuit was brought by environmental groups Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, along with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.

These are the same radical environmental organizations that have been using federal courts to block American energy development for decades.

Now they’ve found a new weapon – using environmental law to stop immigration enforcement.

The facility, built in just eight days on 30 square miles in the Florida Everglades, had the capacity for 2,000 detainees and was expanding to hold up to 4,000.

It opened in July after Governor Ron DeSantis used his emergency powers to fast-track construction as part of supporting Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The remote location made it particularly effective for processing deportations quickly without the typical delays caused by activist lawyers and sanctuary city policies.

But Williams argued that federal agencies failed to conduct proper environmental impact studies required under the National Environmental Policy Act before construction began.

Environmental groups celebrate blocking deportation facility

Environmental activists couldn’t contain their glee over stopping Trump’s immigration enforcement.

“This is a landmark victory for the Everglades,” crowed Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades.

Paul Schwiep, attorney for the environmental groups, celebrated that “the facility must wind down operations in an orderly fashion within 60 days.”

The Miccosukee Tribe chairman declared this “not our first fight for our land and rights” and vowed to “continue to fight to ensure that the government does not dodge its legal requirements.”

These groups spent months in court arguing that the detention facility threatened endangered species and disrupted the ecosystem.

They claimed the facility’s lighting created “light pollution” and that paving for parking lots would increase “harmful water runoff.”

But notably absent from their environmental concerns were decades of complaints about the existing airport that had operated on the same site since the 1960s.

The airport featured a 10,000-foot runway used for military training exercises and flight operations – yet somehow that didn’t threaten the Everglades ecosystem.

It was only when Trump started using the facility to detain illegal immigrants awaiting deportation that these environmental groups suddenly discovered urgent threats to endangered species.

DeSantis fires back as Left uses courts to stop deportations

Governor DeSantis wasn’t having any of the judicial activism and immediately appealed the ruling.

“The deportations will continue until morale improves,” declared Alex Lanfranconi, DeSantis’s spokesman, in a perfect summary of the administration’s response to the court’s overreach.

The state filed a notice of appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, setting up another battle between Trump’s immigration enforcement and activist federal judges.

https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1958907992260452395

This is the same playbook the Left used throughout Trump’s first term – find any federal judge willing to block immigration enforcement using creative legal theories.

Environmental law, the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act – they’ll use whatever statute they can find to stop deportations.

The timing here is no coincidence either.

Williams issued her temporary restraining order on August 7, just as the facility was hitting its stride in processing deportations efficiently.

Now she’s doubled down with a preliminary injunction that will remain in place while the environmental lawsuit works its way through the courts – a process that could take months or years.

Meanwhile, DeSantis is already planning a second facility dubbed the “Deportation Depot” near Jacksonville, which could hold up to 2,000 detainees.

But you can bet the same environmental groups will find urgent ecological concerns about that facility too the moment it starts operating.

The real agenda behind environmental lawfare

Look, nobody believes these environmental groups suddenly care about light pollution in the Everglades.

The same airport site has hosted military training, flight operations, and industrial activity for over 50 years without a peep from Friends of the Everglades.

But the moment Trump uses it to enforce immigration law, suddenly it’s an environmental catastrophe threatening endangered species.

This is lawfare, plain and simple – using friendly federal judges and creative legal theories to stop policies they can’t defeat at the ballot box.

Williams even admitted the real issue when she wrote that “while the defendants repeatedly espouse the importance of immigration enforcement, they offered little to no evidence why this detention camp, in this particular location, is uniquely suited and critical to that mission.”

Translation: Why does Trump need to enforce immigration law at all?

The environmental concerns are just the excuse – the real goal is stopping deportations entirely.

And Williams gave them exactly what they wanted with her ruling requiring the removal of generators, sewage systems, and other infrastructure that makes the facility operational.

You can’t run a detention center without basic utilities, which is precisely the point.

The facility can theoretically stay “open” but can’t function, can’t expand, and can’t process the deportations that make America safer.

The American people voted for immigration enforcement in November, giving Trump a decisive mandate to secure the border and remove illegal immigrants.

But activist judges like Williams think they know better than the voters, using environmental law to override election results.

This is why Trump’s judicial appointments in his first term were so crucial – and why Democrats fought them so hard.

Every Obama and Biden judge on the federal bench is a potential weapon against the America First agenda.

The 11th Circuit will now decide whether environmental concerns really require shutting down immigration enforcement in the Everglades.

But win or lose, this case exposes how the Left uses every tool available – including environmental law – to protect illegal immigrants from deportation.

¹ Devon M. Sayers and Isabel Rosales, “No new detainees can be brought to ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ which a federal judge is effectively shutting down,” CNN, August 22, 2025.

² Victor Nava, “Federal judge orders some parts of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ must be dismantled within 60 days – can no longer admit new detainees,” New York Post, August 21, 2025.

³ CBS Miami Team, “DeSantis appeals judge’s order blocking expansion of Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention site,” CBS Miami, August 22, 2025.

⁴ Alan Wooten, “Alligator Alcatraz expansions halted in federal ruling,” The Center Square, August 22, 2025.

⁵ Juliette Arcodia and Marlene Lenthang, “Judge rules ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ can stay open for now, but no further detainees or construction are allowed,” NBC News, August 21, 2025.

⁶ Chad Gillis, “Federal judge bars transfer of new detainees to Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’,” USA Today, August 21, 2025.