TALLAHASSEE, Florida — State officials are pushing back against environmental groups urgently asking a federal judge to halt work underway at the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center in the Everglades.
But a hearing in the case may not come soon: The case was reassigned to Judge Kathleen M. Williams after Judge Jose E. Martinez on Wednesday recused himself.
After environmental groups on July 11 filed an expedited motion for a ruling on their June 27 request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, lawyers for state Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie told the court the groups don’t have a right to tell judges how to proceed.
“The Court is permitted to take the time it needs to study the case, while balancing the hundreds of other important matters on its docket,” the lawyers wrote in response.
