Everglades Environment in Peril with Alligator Alcatraz

Lawsuits and protests reveal numerous environmental and economic concerns as the new 5,000-bed Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center opened Tuesday in eastern Collier County. The opposition is as conservative as it is liberal among the Everglades locals - even while President Donald Trump flew into the immigration center for its opening with Governor Ron DeSantis.  
“Don’t give up,” Betty Osceola said. “If my ancestors had given up, the Everglades wouldn’t be here right now,” said Osceola, who is a member of the Panther Clan of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and a resident of Ochopee 

Osceola organized two indigenous-led protests to Alligator Alcatraz, drawing hundreds to a thousand people each within days of the project’s public announcement by FloridaAttorney General James Uthmeier. 
Hundreds of truckloads of materials made their way into the detention facility within a week. Although the July 1 opening day was already announced, Osceola maintained her message, supported by both sides of the political spectrum. A youth-led demonstration continued throughout Tuesday, led in part by nearby residents and joined by people attracted to the buzz of an increasingly hot topic. 
 
History Repeats 
The Big Cypress JetPort, as the property is commonly known, was already partially constructed decades ago as an airport and yet people came together to stop it, just like diverse people are coming together now, said Gladesman Matt Taylor, whose family has been in the Everglades since the 1850s.   

Together with the tribes - the Seminole and Miccosukee -as well as other concerned people, including local journalist-author Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, Friends of the Everglades was established to stop the continued construction on that site. The Big Cypress National Preserve was created. What was to be the world’s largest airport was halted, and Earth Day was established from the movement, Taylor said.

Though history seems to be repeating itself in a destructive way, there is a hope among the stewards of the area’s land and water that history could repeat itself in a more positive way soon as well.  

“If you notice it, in this situation, everybody comes together. That is what happened when the Jet Port was stopped,” Taylor said. 
Similarly, the detention center includes thousands of bunk beds stacked about two feet away from each other in chain-linked fencing with barbed wire on the top, shown in footage from the President’s arrival. Though it’s already present on site, opposition hopes that through compelling arguments, including legal action, materials could be trucked back out of the Everglades as quickly as it was trucked in, then replacing the steady stream of heavy equipment traffic with the more quiet traffic that the two-lane road of U.S. 41 Tamiami Trail was accustomed to having prior to this project just two weeks earlier.  
 
Legal Action 
Friends of the Everglades, EarthJustice, and the Center for Biological Diversity were the first to file a lawsuit on the grounds that the project lacked due process and created environmental harm without any of the required environmental assessments.  
This facility was built in nine days with no public process or reviews, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis, because of a declared emergency.  

Several other individuals and entities are preparing separate and consolidated lawsuits, noted tribal leaders and Taylor, who is an environmental attorney. He is among numerous self-proclaimed conservatives who oppose Alligator Alcatraz due to the environmental threats, lack of due process, economic inefficiency, and logistical concerns.  
 
Everglades is the Wrong Place for it 
Although many people oppose Alligator Alcatraz due to opposing the current approach to immigration enforcement as well as immigration policy, many more people oppose Alligator Alcatraz because it is in the wrong place. And some oppose it for both reasons. 
“I wouldn’t care if it were 5,000 environmental scientists housed to save the Everglades or 5,000 cute puppies I could cuddle with,” said Garrett Stuart, a biologist, resident of Ochopee and of the Lakota Nation. The Everglades cannot sustain that amount of development, he said.  
It defeats the purpose of billions of dollars and numerous decades of Everglades Restoration Projects intended to protect the human water supply, reverse environmental damage, and protect the ecosystem.  

Stuart's sentiments were echoed by people from coast to coast.  

Because it’s located right in the middle of Naples and Miami - about an hour or more away from each city center - it requires a lot of time and fuel to get anything to it or out of it, right in the midst of hurricane season.  

It's prime habitat for Florida’s endangered panther as well.  

“It makes no sense,” Taylor said.  
Other locations, such as a closed Air Force Base, the mostly abandoned Hendry County prison, as well as a prison in Copeland, are among numerous alternatives in South Florida that would have fewer environmental impacts and could actually improve existing conditions. Running water, sewer, electric, more storm-resistant structures, and other infrastructure are already in place in such locations, which is not the case for Alligator Alcatraz. Instead, potable water is being trucked in, and the waste is to be trucked out, which will be enormous quantities traveling along the single lane out of the site. Meanwhile, vast amounts of diesel are trucked in and stored on site to supply generators, creating another hazard, opponents warned. 

Flooding is common at the location. Dump trucks carrying fill as well as asphalt may be part of addressing those concerns, while also raising more environmental questions.  

"The environmental impact this stunt will have is unacceptable. Regardless of anyone’s opinion on immigration, environmental impact assessments and permitting must and should be followed,” Taylor said.  

"The Everglades are on the verge of beginning to heal, thanks to the collaboration of those same groups, the Indigenous people, outdoorsmen, Gladesmen, environmentalists, conservationists, and people from all walks of life, that stopped the Jetport construction decades ago,” he said.  
 
Political Allies and Political Flaws 
People have expressed surprise by the quiet support and/or lack of leadership from politicians on the matter. However, politicians have said they were not aware of the plan until it was already in action.  

Rep. Byron Donalds (R) supported the project in an email to the reporter. “Facilities like ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ will help keep our country safe from criminal illegal aliens,” Donalds said.  

Residents were hurt by not being part of the process, as were politicians across the political spectrum, from coast to coast, who said they were unable to protect or communicate on their constituents’ needs. The facility is located within Collier County and operated by Miami-Dade County, which the state offered to give $20 million for the site. 

And though the opposition is of diverse makeup and their styles of protest different, one thing was clear–many people of the Everglades don’t support Alligator Alcatraz.  
Collier County Commissioner Bill McDaniel had called it a political ploy, which Taylor maintained in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s a publicity stunt,” Taylor said.  
And the problem is that due to political pressures, not many government representatives are standing against it, even if they stood for Big Cypress National Preserve and advocated for Everglades environmental restoration to the tune of billions of dollars.  
By placing the detention center in a highly environmentally sensitive area, the project has received maximal attention.  

J. Henry, an attorney who has a camp in Big Cypress and grew up in the area before it was a Preserve, also opposed the Center for its environmental harm. 
“This is political theater at the end of the day,” said Daniel Edenberg of Miami.  
Considering they are proponents of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency to minimize government over-spending), it’s surprising to advocate for this because it is costing $450 million to run, according to the Department of Homeland Security estimates.  

“Imagine the number of backroom deals that had to happen to pull this off,” said William Popeye Osceola, secretary of the Miccosukee Business Council. Next, they’llprobably tout the job creation, Osceola said. 
“These people are wasting money like no other,” Edenberg said.  

With Donalds and Uthmeier both jockeying for a chance at governor and DeSantis having vied for the presidency, they’re using the situation to stir their base, Taylor said.  

It’s what is so awful about politics, he said. “I’m a conservative. And it breaks my heart,” he added. 
 
Nearby Residents 
“A lot of us are really mad and hurt that this is happening. You really have no say,” said Angel Bowers, as she stood outside the Panther Camp, where many youth organized on the detention center’s opening day July 1 as Trump arrived. 
For Mae’anna Osceola-Hart the immigration detention center couldn’t be much closer to home at about a quarter mile. She stood outside her family’s home, the Panther Camp along U.S. 41 in Ochopee, in firm opposition to the immigration detention center for just about every plausible reason to oppose it, from environmental to humanitarian and for her family’s wellbeing. “I’m looking at this from all sides,” Osceola-Hart said.  
Her great-grandfather, Wild Bill Osceola, led to the Tribe’s recognition through Cuba’s Fidel Castro when the U.S. government initially wasn’t recognizing the tribe.  
“This is history repeating itself,” she said, stating a line that was repeated over and over in interviews the past two weeks.  
“It’s a battle to get the simplest thing built on our land. Look how quickly they’ve done this,” she said. “They are not thinking about the repercussions,’ Osceola-Hart said.  
“They didn’t even try to get to know the people out here,” echoed nearby resident Wynter Dawn Billie. “We hear the trucks all night long,” Billie said.  
Garrett Stuart of Ochopee noted the bright lights over the site all night, ruining one of the only truly dark skies remaining in the U.S.. World renowned photographers come to the area to photograph the Milky Way for its uniquely dark, non-polluted views.  
“Send the trailers back,” read the sign held by Dakota Osceola of Naples, whose grandfather, O.B. Osceola, 91, was born at Midway Campground in the Everglades.  
Standing near her during the recent protest was Sharyn Roberts, who lives on the east side of the Jet Port, now detention center. The project’s location made no sense to her, she said.  
Marsha and Donavin Osceola of the Huggins Camp just a couple miles east of Jet Port were shocked by the location choice. From an Indigenous perspective, the absurdity is cultural as well as environmental. “You can’t be illegal on stolen land,” Marsha Osceola said.  
“We just take care of the land. We don’t own it,” she said. “I don’t think humans deserve to be in cages. When you corner a person, they’re going to lash out. God forbid they get out and feel they have to hurt someone to live,” Marsha Osceola continued.  
She felt the government was dismissive of the people who live there.  
“We have a school, an official government building. We have a civilization right next door,” she said.  
A few minutes later, a truck turned out from the detention center and the driver spoke Spanish to protestors.  
“He’s saying, ‘I’m sorry. I’m just doing my job,” translated Elizabeth Clark. 
 
Proponents 
Uthmeier, DeSantis, and Trump all spoke highly of their plan. Trump lauded the runway in particular. DeSantis said the remote location had benefits over being located in a city setting, though he didn’t expand upon those benefits. All three politicians have joked that the alligators provide free security.  
In order to carry out the increased immigration enforcement initiatives, more facilities to detain immigrants are needed.  
Since there has been virtually no public process, few details on the advocacy of this location in particular are available.  
Uthmeier announced the plan on the social media platform X in late June. It was to be open in 30 to 60 days with 1,000 beds. Instead, within about 10 days, the facility was open and preparing to house 5,000 detainees who could be flown out, while their supplies could be driven in and waste driven out, daily. The property is approximately 28,000 acres. 

What Next Collier County Commissioner Bill McDaniel has in the past joked that he cares more about people — his constituents — than animals or the environment. Yet, he too voiced several concerns about the site, one of which was the lack of notice, and the other is hurricane safety.  

"These are all valid concerns,” McDaniel said.  
"There are countless alternative locations around Florida for this detention camp. All of which are cheaper, easier to operate, more accessible, better prepared and far more environmentally sound. Putting this facility in the Everglades is a mistake. Nobody should support it. And I say that as someone who usually votes on the right side of the ballot,” Taylor said. 

Friends of the Everglades continues to share ways for people to oppose the facility, including through an online petitionlocated on everglades.org/no-alligator-Alcatraz. 

Litigation is ongoing and forthcoming. “This plan has had none of the environmental review that’s required by federal law,” said Tania Galloni, managing attorney for the Florida office of Earthjustice, which sued Friday along with Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity. “Cruelty aside, it defies common sense to put a mass of people, vehicles, and development in one of the most significant wetlands in the world. That’s why we’re going to court.” 

A judge’s injunction could potentially halt progress, but Miami Dade County attempted Monday to convince a Florida federal judge to block the lawsuit’s request. 

Coastal Breeze News will continue to follow up on the story.