Judge orders halt to construction and bringing of new detainees to ‘Alligator Auschwitz’

A federal judge in Florida on Thursday night issued a significant ruling regarding the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Everglades, curbing the government’s use of the controversial site on multiple fronts.

Florida officials quickly filed a notice with the court that they're appealing the ruling.

Finding that the government ran afoul of environmental and administrative requirements, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction that bars further construction or the bringing of new detainees to the site. Her order also calls the continued operation of the existing facilities into question, by giving the government 60 days to remove fencing, lighting fixtures, and “all generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles that were installed to support this project.”