Lawyers for the federal government say the government shutdown prevents them from working and are requesting that an appellate court pause a lawsuit over the controversial detention center in the Florida Everglades, Alligator Alcatraz.

In a filing Friday, Department of Justice lawyers asked the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to pause proceedings in the appeal filed by the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis to overturn a lower-court decision siding with environmental groups who said the government had circumvented federal environmental regulations when building the makeshift facility.

“Absent an appropriation, Department of Justice attorneys are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property,” the federal government lawyers stated.

The environmental groups disagreed with the request. They argued that if the appeals case is paused, the site’s operations and construction — which were allowed to continue after the appellate court overturned the lower court’s injunction — could cause more harm to the surrounding Everglades wetlands during the shutdown, the length of which is unknown.

“The balance of harms favors denying an indefinite stay in this case, which would cause Plaintiffs ongoing and irreversible harm,” the lawyers for the environmental group said. Any further construction and operation of the facility “imperils sensitive wetlands, endangered Species, and communities in the area,” they added.

The federal government shutdown has now added another obstacle to one of the multiple lawsuits challenging the legality of the tent detention facility built on the airstrip of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe sued this summer, accusing the federal and state governments of failing to adhere to the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires a federal environmental impact assessment for large federal projects. A lower district judge agreed with the environmental groups and ordered the site effectively shut down within 60 days.

The state and federal governments argued that NEPA does not apply to the state, and the appellate court agreed with them, suspending the lower court’s decision pending arguments on the merits of the appeal and wresting the case from District Judge Kathleen Williams until the appeal is resolved.

The appellate court expedited the case, and the state’s opening brief was due to be filed on Oct. 24, with oral arguments scheduled for January.

The federal government lawyers told the court in their Friday filing that they would resume “as soon as Congress has appropriated funds for the Department.”

Lawyers for the environmental groups said, “It is indeed regrettable that the lapse in appropriations has disrupted the Department of Justice,” but maintained that there was an urgency to address the “irreversible harms” to the environment, given the ongoing construction at the facility.

On Tuesday, the environmental groups filed a related lawsuit against the Florida Division of Emergency Management for failing to disclose records regarding its agreements with the federal government to receive reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for expenses related to Alligator Alcatraz.

On Sept. 30, FEMA approved the DeSantis administration’s $608 million grant request to cover the cost of operations at Alligator Alcatraz and other immigration detention facilities, including Deportation Depot.

The transfer of funds between the federal government and the state was a key point in the appeal judges’ decision to support the government’s claim that NEPA does not apply to states.

“When the Court of Appeals issued its order pausing the trial court’s order halting operations at the detention center, the Court of Appeals said more than once that the Florida Department of Emergency Management had not applied for federal funding,” Paul Schwiep of Coffey Burlington, the lawyer for the environmental groups, said in a statement.

“We now know this was wrong.”

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