Video above: DeSantis to open new immigration center in Florida Panhandle

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials have come under scrutiny for not disclosing their application for federal funds to support an immigration detention center located in the Florida Everglades, colloquially known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” This omission led to misunderstandings during a recent appellate court hearing, which subsequently delayed a judge’s directive to cease operations at the facility, as stated in a lawsuit filed on Monday.

The legal action, initiated in a Tallahassee state court by Friends of the Everglades, accuses both state and federal agencies of bypassing federal requirements for an environmental assessment of the center, strategically positioned in ecologically sensitive wetlands. The lawsuit is supported by another environmental organization and the Miccosukee Tribe.

In August, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, mandating that the detention center must halt operations within a two-month timeframe. However, this order was temporarily suspended in early September after a federal appellate court in Atlanta granted a stay, allowing the center to remain operational while the appeal is considered.

The decision by the three-judge panel hinged on the argument that the state-run facility was not obligated to conduct a federally mandated environmental impact analysis since Florida had not yet received any federal funding for the initiative.

“If the federal defendants ultimately decide to approve that request and reimburse Florida for its expenditures related to the facility, they may need to first conduct an EIS (environmental impact statement),” the judges wrote in their Sept. 4 stay order.

The state of Florida had applied for federal funding on Aug. 7 but never mentioned it to the federal court judge or the appellate court panel and hasn’t corrected the panel’s “misimpressions,” according to Monday’s public records lawsuit.

Earlier this month, federal officials confirmed that Florida had been approved for a $608 million reimbursement for the costs of building and running the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades.

The public records lawsuit was seeking communications and documents between the state and federal governments, which Friends of the Everglades says has been withheld despite making numerous requests since June.

“Government officials in Florida have misled the public they are supposed to work for, and the Everglades have been harmed as a result,” Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Emergency Management on Monday didn’t respond to a request for comment over the public records lawsuit.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration in late June raced to build the facility on an isolated airstrip surrounded by wetlands to aid President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport people in the U.S. illegally. The governor said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it after.

Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.