The tiniest city in the Florida Keys -- population 186 in the high season
-- is taking on U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in a battle that locals
say is intended to preserve their patch of paradise.

Angry residents of Layton filed suit after the U.S. Border Patrol announced
plans to open a new station, including an interim migrant processing
center, in the mile-long municipality between Islamorada and Marathon.

'The mood in Layton is, `Hey, whatever it takes,' '' said Hal Halenza, 72,
a city council member. ``We had to raise our ad valorem taxes to pay for
our attorney fees.''

Immigration and Naturalization Commissioner James Ziglar, Ashcroft and
several federal officials are named in the lawsuit, which was filed earlier
this month in U.S. District Court in Key West.

Cameron Hintzen, the Border Patrol's resident agent in charge in the Keys,
declined to discuss the suit, which names him as a co-defendant. The
government still has about six weeks to respond to the suit in writing.

For its new Keys headquarters, the Border Patrol is considering a vacant
5,000-square-foot building along U.S. 1. It was previously occupied by a
screw manufacturer.

The station would include office space for about 20 agents and three
temporary holding areas for migrants who land in the Keys.

Authorities now have to transport migrants to a processing center in
Pembroke Pines before taking them to Krome detention center in West
Miami-Dade County. They are typically released from Krome to family or friends.

Under the new proposal, migrants would undergo initial processing in the
Keys, then be bused to Krome for release. The Layton site also would offer
ocean access to agents who sometimes use a 27-foot speedboat to chase
migrant smugglers.

Though an environmental assessment commissioned by the Border Patrol found
the station would have ''no significant impact'' on Layton, residents disagree.

In their suit, Layton residents want the agency to conduct another study
that would include more of their input.

They also want a federal judge to block the move until the assessment is
completed.

Before releasing a preliminary proposal, Border Patrol officials held one
public meeting with the community and also met with some of Layton's
elected officials.

In part, Layton residents are pinning their legal hopes on a sea
grass-munching mammal, the West Indian manatee, that is classified as a
federally protected endangered species. The lawsuit contends that federal
officials failed to fully scrutinize the effect the station could have on
manatees that sometimes visit the city's oceanside canals.

''A lot of people have seen manatees throughout the canal system,'' Halenza
said.

Though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed off on the Border Patrol's
environmental assessment, the suit claims that the agency's review
consisted of a ``swap of form letters.''

A lawyer for Layton said the issue strikes at the heart of the city's identity.

''We have manatees, we have crocodiles, but it's also about the human
environment,'' said Dirk Smits, an Islamorada attorney who is representing
the city in the suit. ``The city of Layton is not the best location for this.''

Nestled between Florida Bay and the Atlantic Ocean almost in the middle of
the Keys, Layton was first used as a rustic fishing camp.

It was incorporated in 1963 by Del Layton, a Miami businessman who was
eager to leave the bustle of the mainland behind.

Nearly four decades later, locals fiercely guard the city's small-town
ways: one restaurant, one hotel -- but no supermarket.

''The concern is that we would become a place on the map,'' Halenza said.
``Everybody just kind of gets away from it all here.''