Groups of environmental activists, Native Americans advocating for their homeland, and protestors have joined together in the Florida Everglades to voice their objection to the construction of an immigrant detention center being referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Environmental activists, Native Americans advocating for protection of their ancestral land, and other protest groups have joined together to converge outside of an airstrip in the Florida Everglades this week to contest the construction of a new immigration detention center being referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
On Saturday, hundreds of protestors took over part of US Highway 41 that goes through the Florida Everglades, also known as Tamiami Trail, according to reports. The protestors waved signs to emphasize their disdain as dump trucks began hauling materials into the airfield.
The protestors are calling for the protection of the preserve that is the home to a few Native tribes and several endangered animal species, CNN reports. Florida officials have begun work
Florida officials have begun the process of construction this past week of the compound known as “Alligator Alcatraz” within the Everglades’ swamplands.
Christopher McVoy, an ecologist and Florida city commissioner, was among the protestors, and stated that environmental degradation was a major reason he wanted to make his voice heard. He also cited concerns over immigration raids in his city as a driving factor in his opposition.
“People I know are in tears, and I wasn’t far from it.”
Emergency powers from an executive order issued by Governor Ron DeSantis fast-tracked the project. DeSantis stated that this project is addressing what he thinks is a “crisis of illegal immigration.”
The order itself also allows the state to avoid certain purchasing laws while continuing construction despite objections from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava as well as other activists/groups.
The facility is projected to have temporary structures including heavy-duty tents and trailers that will house up to 5,000 detained immigrants starting in early July. The compound is also surrounded by Florida’s wetlands which are filled with alligators and invasive Burmese pythons.
“Clearly, from a security perspective, if someone escapes, you know, there’s a lot of alligators. No one’s going anywhere,” DeSantis said last week.
DeSantis has supported the broader crackdown on illegal immigration from the federal government and has pushed for aggressive immigration enforcement in the state of Florida. The US Department of Homeland Security has backed this project in the Everglades and will partially fund it through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Human rights groups, Native Americans, and environmentalists have all begun protesting the project. Eve Samples, the executive director of Friends of the Everglades, recently spoke about the damage that the construction of the facility will cause to the natural surroundings of the area.
“The Everglades is a vast, interconnected system of waterways and wetlands, and what happens in one area can have damaging impacts downstream. So it’s really important that we have a clear sense of any wetland impacts happening in the site.”
Native American leaders in the region are also calling the construction of the facility an “encroachment” on their homelands, which initially prompted the protests on Saturday. CNN reports that in Big Cypress National Preserve, where the airstrip is located, 15 traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages remain, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds.
Other activism groups have been pointing out how the facility is inhumane housing and the environmental impact sparked a lawsuit to halt the detention center construction.
Desantis’ spokesperson Bryan Griffin said that this facility is a “necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a preexisting airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment.”
Environmental groups are claiming that construction on the facility should pause until the entire site undergoes a comprehensive environmental review, but also believe that the quick construction will allow state and federal agencies to “get away with” the entire project despite not having those reviews.
“The potential environmental hazards also bleed into other aspects of Everglades life, including a robust tourism industry where hikers walk trails and explore the marshes on airboats,” said Floridians for Public Lands founder Jessica Namath.
“To place an immigration detention center there makes the area unwelcoming to visitors and feeds into the misconception that the space is in “the middle of nowhere,” she said.
“Everybody out here sees the exhaust fumes, sees the oil slicks on the road, you know, they hear the sound and the noise pollution. You can imagine what it looks like at nighttime, and we’re in an international dark sky area,” Namath stated.
“It’s very frustrating because, again, there’s such a disconnect for politicians.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
