South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that the state has joined 21 others in filing a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The brief challenges a federal judge’s decision to halt construction of Florida’s immigrant detention facility, referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Wilson criticized the court’s ruling, describing it as judicial overreach and an improper application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). According to Wilson, NEPA is intended to regulate federal agencies rather than states acting independently.
“This has never been about protecting the environment; this is about activist judges trying to block states from enforcing immigration laws and carrying out President Trump’s mandate,” Wilson said. “Congress never gave unelected judges the power to use NEPA as a weapon against states. If they can stop Florida from building Alligator Alcatraz, they can stop any state from using its own state dollars to build prisons, schools, or public safety facilities. That’s not the rule of law; it’s the rule of partisan politics legislated from the bench.”
The coalition includes South Carolina along with Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.
A link to the full brief was provided in the announcement.
