TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — On Thursday, a federal judge halted construction for two weeks at Alligator Alcatraz, the mass migrant detention center near the Everglades.

Conservation groups want the judge to do more. One of the plaintiffs is Friends of the Everglades. Eve Samples is the group’s executive director.

“We're seeking an order to halt activity as a whole, so the state and federal government can comply with the National Environmental Policy Act,” Samples said.

Samples is referencing a federal law that tells agencies to consider impacts to the environment for major projects through an assessment and to include the public.

“This is a very common-sense law that requires the government to look before it leaps,” Samples said.

Friends of the Everglades initially helped stop further develo

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