When the news broke in Florida Thursday that a federal judge had blocked further construction at the migrant detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz," more than a hundred members of the Miccosukee Tribe were entering the fifth hour of a contentious community meeting.
Curtis Esteban Osceola, a tribe member and attorney, interrupted the meeting to deliver the news of the unlikely victory.
"It was a roar of applause," Osceola recounted to ABC News. "Everyone was very, very pleased that the judge granted the temporary restraining order."
It's a temporary victory for an Indian tribe whose history has been partially shaped by broken promises from the United States. But temporary or not, Thursday's order put the Miccosukee -- a small tribe of less than a thousand members -- in the middle of the most high-profile use of an environmental law to challenge the Trump administration.
Less than two months ago, the Miccosukee first heard rumors that the largely abandoned airport on the outskirts of their reservation would soon be transformed into a detention complex to serve a central role in President Donald Trump's mass immigration plan. Some members at first dismissed the idea as a joke, according to Kendal Osceola, a 26-year-old tribe member -- but they quicky grew concerned as the normally quiet U.S. Route 41 was soon filled with government vehicles and construction trucks.
"When all this happened, you know, we felt alone. We felt isolated like our homelands were being trampled on," said Curtis Osceola, who serves as a senior executive policy adviser to the Miccosukee Tribe Chairman.
The temporary detention center more than doubled the residential density in the area, and the rapid expansion of the site sparked concerns that the tribe, whose members live a few miles upstream, would be harmed. The dozens of industrial light towers used at the site also contributed to light pollution, endangering the Miccosukee's ability to see the stars for their annual calendar, according to Osceola.
When the Miccosukee learned that a coalition of environmental groups had sued the state of Florida and the Trump administration for violating the National Environmental Policy Act, they quickly moved to join the case.
"We just want generally just to be left alone, and so when something like this gets dropped on our doorstep, it's something that we had to act on," said Curtis Osceola.
On Thursday, the environmental groups and tribe successfully convinced a federal judge in Miami to block any further construction at the site for two weeks while the case moves through the court.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Mary Williams has divorced the case from any arguments about the allegedly inhumane conditions at the camp, focusing solely on the environmental impact of the site on the Everglades and the endangered animals that call it home. The Miccosukee's lawyers are set to present evidence this week in federal court about how they say the tribe would be harmed.
The plaintiffs are seeking more than a temporary halt of construction; they want a shutdown of the entire facility, and they hope to convince Judge Williams to issue a preliminary injunction. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has vowed to challenge the temporary restraining order while the complex continues "to send illegal aliens back to where they came from," Uthmeier says.
"We're cautiously optimistic," said Curtis Osceola following the issuance of the temporary restraining order. "We love the win, but we know that there is a process. We're pretty attuned to the legal process, and we know that this isn't the end."
For Kendal Osceola, a Miccosukee Embassy Fellow who grew up on the reservation and hopes to raise her son there, Thursday's news was a step in the right direction.
"I want him to grow up experiencing almost the same thing as what I grew up with," she said of her son. "It's very much a step in the right direction. It's a small step, but that's usually how a lot of these big wins are made."