Mother Jones reports:

A federal judge in Miami has ruled that operations at the controversial detention facility Alligator Alcatraz must begin to wind down, ordering state and federal officials to stop transferring detainees there and relocate current detainees within 60 days.

Two weeks after US District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, ordered a temporary pause on any new construction at Alligator Alcatraz, in response to a suit by environmental groups, she has now ordered the dismantling of equipment at the detention camp, such as fencing, lighting, generators, and other infrastructure. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a notice indicating the state would appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

The US Department of Homeland Security previously said in court filings that it was not in charge of operations at Alligator Alcatraz, and the facility was solely the responsibility of Florida, “using state funds on state lands under state emergency authority.” The state argued that the environmental groups that had filed the lawsuit are seeking relief under the National Environmental Policy Act, which does not apply to state agencies.

But in her 82-page ruling filed on Thursday night, Williams disagreed. “The project was requested by the federal government; built with a promise of full federal funding; constructed in compliance with ICE standards; staffed by deputized ICE Task Force Officers acting under color of federal authority and at the direction and supervision of ICE officials,” she wrote, “and exists for the sole purpose of detaining and deporting those subject to federal immigration enforcement.”

“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,” the order continued.

As I wrote in June, two environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court against federal and state officials to halt the Alligator Alcatraz project. They argued that construction proceeded without an environmental review or opportunity for public comment, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. On Friday, the plaintiffs applauded Williams’s ruling. “This decision sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government—and there are consequences for ignoring them,” Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said in a written statement. [Continue reading…]