Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

── Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: April 21, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-12873 Document: 139-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 1 of 38 FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-12873 ____________________ FRIENDS OF THE EVERGLADES, INC., a Florida 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Plaintiffs-Appellees, MICCOSUKEE TRIBE OF INDIANS OF FLORIDA, Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellee, versus SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ACTING DIRECTOR, OF THE UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OF THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, Defendants-Appellants, USCA11 Case: 25-12873 Document: 139-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 2 of 38 2 Opinion of the Court 25-12873 MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, a political subdivision of the State of Florida, Defendant. ____________________ Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:25-cv-22896-KMW ____________________ Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and BRASHER and ABUDU, Cir- cuit Judges. WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge: This appeal requires us to decide if the National Environ- mental Policy Act governs a facility constructed by the State of Florida to assist in federal immigration enforcement. Using state employees and state funds, Florida officials, on their own initiative, constructed a detention center at an airport on state property in the Florida Everglades. After federal authorities inspected the facility for compliance with federal standards, they started using it as a de- tention facility. Environmental advocates, joined by the Mic- cosukee Tribe, sued state and federal officials for failing to conduct an environmental review under the Act. The district court prelim- inarily enjoined the officials to stop construction and to undo some of the work that had already been completed, and it enjoined the detention of illegal aliens there. Because the environmentalists and Tribe failed to prove either a final agency action or federal control, and because the injunction, in part, violates a statutory prohibition of enjoining immigration enforcement, we vacate and remand. USCA11 Case: 25-12873 Document: 139-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 3 of 38 25-12873 Opinion of the Court 3 I. BACKGROUND On January 6, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida de- clared a state of emergency. He stated that “alarming levels” of il- legal immigration in Florida in preceding months had imposed “an unmanageable strain on local resources.” He designated the Exec- utive Director of the Division of Emergency Management to coor- dinate the response to the crisis. And he instructed the Director to “[s]eek direct assistance and enter into agreements” with the fed- eral government to address the crisis and direct state and local gov-