We’re Fighting to Protect the Everglades from a Massive Detention Center

What happened: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration and Florida authorities to stop bringing in new detainees to the Everglades detention center and to wind down operations within 60 days.

The judge granted this preliminary injunction at the request of environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe. The groups, represented by Earthjustice and others, pointed to the lack of any environmental review – required by law – before Florida and the federal government hastily constructed the facility. 

Why it matters: The ruling affirms environmental laws that ensure the government conducts environmental review and seeks public input before constructing in sensitive areas.  

Built hastily in eight days, the detention center lies within the Everglades, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere. The center holds people who have been rounded up by state or federal officials in the push for mass deportation. 

“This is a landmark victory for the Everglades and countless Americans who believe this imperiled wilderness should be protected, not exploited,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. 

Earthjustice and our partners have defended this renowned wetland ecosystem, and its endangered inhabitants, for decades. We celebrate this latest win.

How we got here

• The detention center: In June, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a partnership with federal agencies to build an immigration detention center in the Everglades as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation plan.  
• Groups fight back: Friends of the Everglades, represented by Earthjustice and private attorneys, sued the administration and the Florida Division of Emergency Management for failing to undertake any environmental review for the facility, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe are also partners in the case. 
• Controversial history: The detention site was once the center of a national battle over a proposed gargantuan jetport in the 1960s. Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the renowned reporter turned environmental activist, founded Friends of the Everglades to fight that jetport. Their fight became a catalyst for the creation of NEPA in 1970.  
• Cornerstone environmental law: “This battle was fought and won in the late 1960s and early 70s,” says Samples. “Nixon signed the pact that killed the Everglades jetport. The country stitched together this fabric of protections [under NEPA], and now it’s being unraveled.  I feel optimistic that if we rise up and fight again, it can hold.” 
• The judge cited that environmental history, and continued: “Since that time, every Florida governor, every Florida senator, and countless local and national political figures, including presidents, have publicly pledged their unequivocal support for the restoration, conservation, and protection of the Everglades. This Order does nothing more than uphold the basic requirements of legislation designed to fulfill those promises.”  

Earthjustice Managing Attorney Tania Galloni, left, and Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples, right, stand outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse after a hearing in the Everglades Detention Center case (Photo by Saul Martinez for Earthjustice)

The Everglades are the lifeblood of Florida

• A shelter for wildlife: The detention center is surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve, a federally protected, ecologically sensitive area that is a haven to Florida’s endangered species, including the Florida panther, wood stork, and bonneted bat. Florida panthers have been documented on the very site where the detention center now sits.
• Unlike other national parks that are removed from urban areas, the Everglades are a short drive from Miami. Federal protections preserve the Everglades as both a biodiverse ecosystem and an accessible, world-renowned refuge for recreationalists.  
• “I grew up in an urban part of Miami,” said Samples. “When I drive west, my breathing slows down. It’s a mystical experience to wade through the cypress domes and walk the limestone bottoms. People who frequent Big Cypress know that and cherish that.” 
• The facility’s operations bring extreme disruptions to Big Cypress, including construction fill material, roads, vehicles near wildlife habitats, and high-intensity floodlights that can be seen 15 miles away. Floodlights are especially damaging as the preserve is an internationally recognized Dark Sky Park, with one of the darkest night skies in the eastern United States. 

What happens now

• Today’s decision means the facility must wind down operations within 60 days. Hundreds of detainees remain at the facility. Transfers to other detention facilities already began before the ruling. 
• The judge will continue hearing arguments while the injunction remains in place, after which she will decide on the merits of the environmental groups’ claims. 
• The state of Florida immediately appealed the injunction. This does not stop the judge’s order to wind down operations, but it is expected that the state’s attorneys will ask to stay the order as legal arguments continue. 
• Earthjustice is committed to fighting for this world-renowned ecosystem. Florida’s Everglades are no place for a cruel detention center. Join us and tell the Trump administration that they are not above the law.