The federal court of appeals overturned a legal order requiring Florida and the US President Donald Trump administration to close Crocodile Alcatraz.
In a 2-1 ruling, the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia granted a request from Florida and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to block lower court injunctions while the lawsuit was occurring.
“The Crocodile Alcatraz is actually open for business, as we always said,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Last month, US District Judge Kathleen Williams stopped expanding the facility and beginning demolition within 60 days.
Judge Williams, appointed by former President Barack Obama, agreed to environmental groups and the Native American tribes who had argued that the facility should undergo federal environmental review.
The Department of Homeland Security began relocating detainees from the Everglades, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, later last month, in compliance with its court order.
However, on Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit will succeed in showing that state and federal officials are probably not subject to the National Environmental Policy Act, as the facility has not yet received federal funding.
The two Trump-appointed judges wrote a majority vote. An Obama-appointed judge objected.
The virtually abandoned Florida airport in a sensitive wetland was transformed into a detention center in July.
The Department of Homeland Security said the appeal ruling was “a victory for the American people, the rule of law, and common sense.”
“The lawsuit did not concern the environmental impact of converting a developed airport into a detention facility,” the department wrote in a post on X.
“It's always about open boundary activists and judges who are trying to prevent law enforcement from removing dangerous criminal aliens from our community.”
The Republican governor of Florida also welcomed the decision.
“The left-wing judge contradicted that Florida was not permitted to use our own property on this important mission, as Florida did not issue a statement of environmental impact,” DeSantis said.
A lawyer for the Center for Biodiversity, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said the decision was “a heartbreaking blow to the Everglades of America and all the creatures there, but the incident wasn't even close.”
Another plaintiff, friends of the Everglades, said it was reviewing the order.
The Mikkoski tribe, the third plaintiff who claims the facility is threatening its ancestors' land, has yet to comment.