Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration hastily filed an appeal Thursday after a federal judge aligned with environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, ordering the state to begin shutting down operations at a controversial immigrant-detention facility in the Everglades.

The state of Florida filed a notice of appeal following District Judge Kathleen Williams’ order to halt the further construction of the immigrant detainment facility that has now become known as “Alligator Alcatraz” due to its brutal conditions for detainees, similar to the maximum security prison, Alcatraz. 

The state’s filing did not outline the specific arguments it will present before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Williams’ ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, joined by the Miccosukee Tribe, according to the Florida Sentinel. 

As BET previously reported, the facility has raised health concerns for the detainees, but despite that, the federal government announced plans to expand earlier this month. 

“There is a demand for this,” DeSantis said. “I’m confident that it will be filled.”

This recent block cites the expansion’s harmful effects for the future. 

“Plaintiffs have provided extensive evidence supporting their claims of significant ongoing and likely future environmental harms from the project,” Williams wrote in her 82-page decision. “By contrast, while the defendants repeatedly espouse the importance of immigration enforcement, they offered little to no evidence why this detention camp, in this particular location, is uniquely suited and critical to that mission.”

Attorneys for the state and federal defendants have previously contended that because the facility was built and operated under state authority, federal environmental law should not apply, according to The Sentinel.