By Churchill Ndonwie, Miami Herald (TNS)

MIAMI — An appeals court on Thursday set aside a federal judge’s order that had forced Florida’s state government to slowly shut down Alligator Alcatraz and blocked the Trump administration from sending new detainees to the Everglades detention camp.

The split decision by a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals paused District Judge Kathleen Williams’ Aug. 21 order effectively closing down Alligator Alcatraz while a lawsuit challenging the construction of the facility proceeded.

The judges in their ruling sided with the government’s argument that the National Environmental Protection Act does not apply to state agencies, and shutting down the facility would stymie the state’s ability to carry out immigration enforcement. Th

See Full Page