South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson responded to a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which granted Florida’s request to stay a lower court ruling that would have required the closure of its new detention facility for illegal immigrants, known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
In his statement, Wilson said, “This is a major victory for common sense, the rule of law, and state sovereignty. The Eleventh Circuit recognized what we argued in our multistate brief, that federal environmental laws like NEPA cannot be twisted into political weapons by activists to stop states from protecting their citizens.” He added, “South Carolina stands with Florida and every other state who is on the front lines of the border crisis. States must have the ability to defend their communities and keep dangerous criminals off their streets.”
Earlier this year, Wilson joined 21 other states in filing an amicus brief urging the appeals court to reverse a district court injunction that had ordered Florida to dismantle the facility within 60 days. The appeals court agreed with arguments made by these states that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is procedural in nature and does not serve as grounds for blocking lawful state projects when no federal action has taken place.
The full friend-of-the-court brief and the Eleventh Circuit’s decision are available online.
