Environmental protection groups filed suit against state and federal immigration authorities on Friday to block construction on the new "Alligator Alcatraz" detention facility.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, two non-profits dedicated to environmental protection.
The groups are suing Miami-Dade County and the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Florida Division of Emergency Management to block "Alligator Alcatraz" from becoming Florida's sixth detention center.
“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,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, in a press release.
State officials, in partnership with federal authorities, are moving to rapidly convert the defunct Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport into a sweeping detention facility for undocumented immigrants. Using tents and trailers, it will have a capacity of 5,000 beds and be up and running by July 1.
“This massive detention center will blight one of the most iconic ecosystems in the world,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This reckless attack on the Everglades — the lifeblood of Florida — risks polluting sensitive waters and turning more endangered Florida panthers into roadkill.
"It makes no sense to build what’s essentially a new development in the Everglades for any reason, but this reason is particularly despicable," she continued.
Attorney General James Uthmeier first announced the Alcatraz plan last week. It was approved by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Director Todd Lyons days later, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has since worked with FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie to quickly overhaul the site into a detention center.
Noem, Lyons, and Guthrie are all named in the suit.
The Alcatraz site is located on the Everglades perimeter within Big Cypress National Preserve. The Everglades is the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere, the largest continuous stand of sawgrass prairie, and the most significant breeding ground for wading birds in North America, the press release says.
