Cases

Protecting the Everglades from a Massive Detention Center

The detention center plan has gone through no environmental review as required under federal law, and the public has had no opportunity to comment. The Everglades is the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere.

Clients

Friends of the Everglades

Regional Office / Program

Florida Office

Case Overview

Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity sued in U.S. District Court to protect the Florida Everglades from a reckless plan for a massive detention center to confine people who are rounded up in immigration raids.

The suit was filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Miami-Dade County.

Despite the plan going through no environmental review as required under federal law, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has plowed ahead with developing the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, roughly two hours west of Miami, and one hour east of Naples, in hopes of detaining up to 5,000 people there.

The Everglades is the largest continuous stand of sawgrass prairie and the most significant breeding ground for wading birds in North America. In 2010, it was designated as an endangered UNESCO World Heritage site.

Friends of the Everglades is represented by Earthjustice and attorneys Scott Hiaasen and Paul Schwiep.

A heron takes flight over wetlands in the Everglades in Florida.
A heron takes flight over wetlands in the Everglades in Florida. (Brian Lasenby / Shutterstock)

Case Updates

February 8, 2026 In the News: WSUF

DeSantis spent $573 million on immigration. The feds may never pay Florida back

Tania Galloni, Managing Attorney, Florida Office: “The fact is that just as the district court found, this facility required federal environmental review from the beginning because it’s an ICE detention center. No delay in disbursing federal funds affects that reality.”

Inside of a darkened structure, rows of empty bunk beds are lined up inside cells make of chain-link fences. Two men in suits are standing outside, visible through an open doorway.
January 22, 2026 Press Release

Court Orders Florida Division of Emergency Management to Comply with Friends of the Everglades Public Records Requests on ICE Detention Center

Florida and federal agencies have been withholding information to avoid complying with federal environmental law

January 8, 2026 In the News: Politico

Appeals court asked to consider new records on Everglades detention center

Tania Galloni, Managing Attorney, Florida Office: “We now know that the federal and state government had records confirming that they closely partnered on this facility from the beginning but failed to disclose them to the district court. They cannot continue to evade responsibility for what they’ve done to the Everglades.”

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Case page created on June 27, 2025.