Environmental Groups Sue to Stop Opening of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Threatening Everglades Ecosystem
Environmental groups are pushing back against a new detention center built in the Florida Everglades. The protected and sensitive wetlands are home to unique and endangered species, including the Florida panther. The lawsuit seeks to force an environmental review process consistent with federal and state law. The detention center, called “Alligator Alcatraz,” is facing backlash from environmental rights groups and elected officials.
“Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida is facing intense pushback
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Friends of the Everglades have teamed up to file the lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and others associated with the detention center. The lawsuit aims to stop the facility from opening until it goes through the legally required environmental review.
“The site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species. This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect,” Eve Samples, Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades, said in a statement. “Friends of the Everglades was founded by Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 1969 to stop harmful development at this very location. Fifty-six years later, the threat has returned — and it poses another existential threat to the Everglades.”
Additionally, the development of the detention center puts sensitive wildlife at risk while jeopardizing an ecological gem for the state. The Everglades are the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere. The preserve was recognized in 2010 as an endangered UNESCO World Heritage site.
Florida Republicans are rushing through plans to complete the project
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been one of the most vocal supporters of the project. During a tour with President Donald Trump, Gov. DeSantis celebrated the quick construction of the detention center. The detention center was constructed in eight days and is set to start holding immigrants as soon as this week.
“The state of Florida is all in on President Trump’s mission,” DeSantis said on a tour of the facility, according to NBC News. “There needs to be more ability to intake, process and deport.”
Gov. DeSantis also confirmed during the tour that the State of Florida will do everything it can to help the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. Furthermore, the Florida Republican Party, doubling down on the questionable ethics of the detention center, is selling merchandise with “Alligator Alcatraz” on hats and shirts.
According to CNN, this is one of two sites that will potentially be used to detain, process, and deport migrants for the Trump administration. The news outlet reports that the Camp Blanding National Guard Training Center in Clay County, Florida, is also under consideration.
Gov. DeSantis and President Trump have been at odds in recent months. The president has worked to undermine Gov. DeSantis’s power in the Sunshine State. A recent example is the Florida legislature working with the White House to draft immigration legislation that cut out the governor’s wishes.
The new detention center seems to be a move by the Florida governor to cozy up to the current administration. The environmental groups and the Earthjustice law firm have pledged to continue the fight against the detention center.
