A federal appeals court Thursday overturned a judge's order to shut down Florida's immigration detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by Department of Homeland Security officials.

A protester from Chicago shows his point of view with his sign in front of the entrance to "Alligator Alcatraz" located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on August 6 in Ochopee, Fla. An appellate court on Thursday overturned a federal judge's order to shut down the prison. Photo By Gary I Rothstein/UPI UPI A protester from Oregon protests at the entrance to "Alligator Alcatraz" on August 6. Photo By Gary I Rothstein/UPI UPI Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appealed the lower judge's order to close the South Florida Detention Facility on grounds that since the state is running the prison, it's not beholden to a federal environmental law. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI UPI

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court Thursday overturned a judge's order to shut down Florida's immigration detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by Department of Homeland Security officials.

The opinion issued by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams to wind down operations at the South Florida Detention Facility at Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee.

Environmental groups led by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe sued over the construction of the facility in May, saying the government didn't perform a required environmental review first. They cited a federal law called the National Environmental Policy Act, which says the government must conduct such reviews before construction.

In a 2-1 opinion, the Atlanta-based appellate court said the construction of the facility can't be challenged under NEPA because the state of Florida runs the prison, not the federal government.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appealed the lower court's August order based on these grounds. He praised the decision in a post on X accusing Williams of being a "leftist judge."

"The mission continues at Alligator Alcatraz," he wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security called it a "huge victory."

"Today's order is a win for the American people, the rule of law and common sense," the department posted on X.

Friends of the Everglades issued a statement on Facebook saying environmental groups intend to continue "fighting" the case.

"While disappointing, we never expected ultimate success to be easy," said Eve Samples, executive director of the group. "We're hopeful the preliminary injunction will be affirmed when it's reviewed on its merits during the appeal."

The South Florida Detention Facility was the first of multiple prisons opened by the Trump administration in recent months as part of the president's pledge to mass deport immigrants. Since "Alligator Alcatraz's" opening in July, the DHS has opened or announced a number of other facilities with alliterative nicknames, including the "Speedway Slammer" at the Miami Correctional Center in Indiana; the "Cornhusker Clink" at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook, Neb.;, the "Deportation Depot" at the Baker Correctional Institution in north Florida; and the "Louisiana Lockup" at Angola Prison.

Immigrants' rights groups have taken issue with the federal-state partnerships to open large-scale detention facilities and the "political spectacle" associated with the nicknames.

"The new agreements mark a new chapter in the level and scale of cooperation" between federal and state governments on immigration enforcement, the Marshall Project said in a statement in August.

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The organization accused the DHS of preventing detainees from meeting confidentially with lawyers at the South Florida Detention Facility. The Marshall Project also alleged the conditions were filthy at the facility and detainees were treated inhumanely, both of which the Trump administration denied.

The DHS said Thursday that the legal challenge to the construction of the facility was about immigration policy, not the environment.

"This lawsuit was never about the environmental impacts of turning a developed airport into a detention facility. It has and will always be about open-borders activists and judges trying to keep law enforcement from removing dangerous criminal aliens from our communities, full stop."