Twenty-two days into the federal government shutdown, an appellate court has granted the Department of Justice’s request to pause a lawsuit over the environmental impact of the Florida Everglades’ makeshift immigration detention center, Alligator Alcatraz.

In a two-sentence order on Wednesday, the Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion by federal government lawyers requesting that the appellate court pause proceedings in a case that halted a lower court decision shuttering operations at the controversial facility.

The federal lawyers in their motion stated that the shutdown prevented them from working.

“The motion to stay the appeal is GRANTED. The movant is DIRECTED to promptly file a notice with the Court when the purpose for the stay is obviated,” the appellate court decision stated without any further explanation.

As Democrats and Republicans argue over provisions to reopen the federal government, the impending halt to federal food subsidies and the layoffs of federal workers are not the only disruptions— the shutdown has also created another obstacle in ongoing lawsuits against the facility’s operations.

Last week, lawyers for the federal government told the court that “Department of Justice attorneys are prohibited from working” because of the lack of appropriations from Congress. The environmental groups Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity argued against the request, alleging that more harm would be done to the surrounding areas of the Everglades if the case were to be stalled.

The conservation groups on Wednesday issued a statement, saying, “The government is dodging accountability.” The appellate court decision “means the Trump administration and the state of Florida can continue polluting, destroying and degrading the sensitive ecosystems and endangered wildlife in Big Cypress National Preserve.”

“The Trump administration is trying to disable every lever of justice so it can keep breaking the law, hurting both people and the places we love most in the process,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Unfortunately for Trump and his sycophants we’re not going away — we’ll be here when they’re ready to face us in court over this major threat to our beautiful Everglades.”

The conservation groups sued the federal and state governments in June, accusing them of failing to follow federal environmental rules during the construction of the temporary tent detention center in the Big Cypress National Preserve. The Miccosukee Tribe later joined the lawsuit. They received a victory from the district court, which issued a preliminary injunction stopping new construction at the detention site - ordering it to shut down operations within 60 days.

The victory was short-lived. In a 2-1 preliminary decision in September, the appellate judges granted the state’s request to pause the lower courts’ decision while they argued for an appeal. In their majority opinion, the judges agreed with the federal and state governments’ argument that the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental impact assessments for large federal projects, does not apply to states.

That decision put the case on hold in Judge Kathleen Williams’ Florida Southern District Court till the appellate judges had reviewed arguments on the merits of an appeal from the state and federal governments.

Wednesday’s decision now leaves the appellate court case in limbo, linking the fate of Alligator Alcatraz to the ongoing saga of restarting federal government operations. However, since the site is mostly state-run, the DeSantis administration can still proceed with business as usual.

The conservation groups and faith leaders have been holding a prayer vigil for detainees every Sunday outside the facility. This Sunday, they plan to demonstrate against the appellate court’s decision at the facility’s gates.

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