Appeals court rules 'Alligator Alcatraz' can stay open, rejecting push for federal environmental impact review

"Alligator Alcatraz," an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, can remain open, an appeals court ruled on Tuesday, upholding its earlier decision to block a judge's order for the facility to wind down operations for failing to comply with federal environmental law.

In a 2-1 decision, the majority on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found the state-run facility was not under federal control and was not subject to federal law requiring an environmental impact review.

"Florida, not federal, officials constructed the facility," the majority wrote. "They control the land and 'entirely' built the facility at state expense."

The legal dispute centers in part on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a federal law that requires agencies to assess environmental impacts before major actions.

GUARDS AT 'ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ' BEAT, PEPPER-SPRAYED DETAINEES, LAWYER SAYS

The court wrote that Florida had received no federal reimbursement when U.S. District Judge Kathleen Willi...