Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Sparks Fresh Protests, Legal Battle in Everglades

Protests intensified over the weekend in the Florida Everglades as environmental activists and Native American groups rallied against the rapid construction of a controversial immigrant detention center, dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Hundreds of demonstrators lined U.S. Highway 41, the Tamiami Trail, outside an airstrip in the Big Cypress National Preserve, where dump trucks are actively delivering materials for the facility.

The opposition comes as Florida officials accelerate the project under an emergency executive order from Governor Ron DeSantis, which bypasses standard purchasing laws. The state aims to have 5,000 immigration detention beds operational by early July, utilizing temporary structures like tents and trailers.

Concerns are multifaceted, spanning environmental degradation, the encroachment on sacred Miccosukee and Seminole ancestral homelands, and human rights issues regarding the housing of immigrants. The Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Everglades filed a lawsuit last Friday, seeking to halt construction until a comprehensive environmental review is conducted.

Critics argue that the rapid establishment of the facility, which a DeSantis spokesperson described as a ‘necessary staging operation for mass deportations’ with no environmental impact, is a deliberate attempt to make reversal difficult. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and local activists have also voiced strong objections to the project located within the sensitive Everglades ecosystem.

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