A federal appeals court on Thursday allowed Florida’s immigration detention centre in the Everglades ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to stay open, reversing a lower court order that had blocked new detainees and ordered the site to be dismantled. The 11th US circuit court of appeals in Atlanta granted state and federal authorities’ request to pause last month’s ruling by a Miami judge that had halted operations at the centre. Florida opened the facility in July, becoming the first state to run an immigration detention centre, a role usually handled by the federal government. The department of homeland security told the court it was not running the site.

The appeals judges said the lower court had misapplied environmental law. They ruled that the national environmental policy Act did not cover the project because Florida had fully funded and operated it. Even if the federal government reimbursed costs later, it would not qualify as a federal project. Governor Ron DeSantis welcomed the decision, saying the detention centre was “open for business.” Environmental groups opposing the project vowed to continue their legal challenge, calling it harmful to the Everglades ecosystem.