‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Doesn’t Need Environmental Review, DHS Says

The Department of Homeland Security told a federal district court Thursday that no environmental review was needed for the temporary migrant detention facility on a Florida Everglades site because the state is funding the operation alone.

In response to environmental groups’ bid for a temporary restraining order blocking the opening of “Alligator Alcatraz,” the agency told the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida that the state’s decision to detain migrants at the facility isn’t a federal agency action subject to review under the federal Administrative Procedure Act.

In addition, “significant national interest in combating unlawful immigration” weighs ...