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A sign marks the entrance to the Baker Correctional Institution, Sanderson, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)

ORLANDO, Fla. – A federal judge has put a stop to further expansion of the immigration detention center built in the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz , ordering that its operations wind down within two months.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami wrote in her 82-page order late Thursday that Florida officials never sufficiently explained why an immigration detention center needed to be located in the middle of sensitive wetlands cherished by environmentalists and outdoors people.

She also said that state and federal authorities never undertook an environmental review as required by federal law before Florida official

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