Environmental groups on Friday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction and operation of a detention center for undocumented immigrants that has been dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," saying it threatens ecologically sensitive areas and species in the surrounding Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve.

Florida officials are pursuing plans to build a second detention center to house immigrants, as part of the state’s aggressive push to support the federal government’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The second center would be at Camp Blanding, a Florida National Guard training site southwest of Jacksonville.