Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity announced Monday that they submitted a legal brief on July 3 in support of their motion for a temporary restraining order and injunction against Florida's new illegal alien detention facility in the Everglades, better known now as "Alligator Alcatraz."
"Caring about America’s clean water, public lands and human wellbeing is patriotic, not political,” Florida and Caribbean Director and Attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity Elise Bennett said in a release. “I would hope this administration doesn’t believe these important values — embraced by millions of Floridians — are reserved to any one political party.”
According to the release, the injunction specifically seeks to prevent further damage allegedly caused by Alligator Alcatraz by forcing state and federal officials to conduct an environmental impact study of the facility, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
Alligator Alcatraz is located in Ochopee near the Miami-Dade-Collier County line. It is also in the middle of Big Cypress National Preserve, which is home to alligators, pythons, and endangered species that the lawsuit seeks to protect.
“The federal government and state of Florida advanced this plan with no environmental analysis, no public input and no regard for Americans’ widely held desire to safeguard national parks," Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples added.
The groups filed their initial lawsuit on June 27. In part, they said the facility includes "destructive activities" such as new and paved roads, apparent pesticide spraying, and light pollution visible 15 miles from Big Cypress National Preserve.
Defendants named in the suit include Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, and Miami-Dade County.
The facility was first pitched by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on June 19. A first wave of criminal migrants arrived at the facility on Thursday, less than two weeks after its initial proposal.
"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," Samples said in the initial suit. "This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect."
