Indigenous Lead Opposition to Alligator Alcatraz

People who live in and love the Everglades are gathering Sunday at the Big Cypress Jet Port in Ochopee to express their opposition to the planned immigration detainment center in the heart of the Everglades — dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. 

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier proposed the immigration detainment center in the Everglades that he dubbed Alligator Alcatraz on Thursday. He posted a video announcement of the idea on his social media page on the platform X, and it quickly made national news. 

Some say he did it as a political ploy rather than as a legitimate idea, but there are still actions being taken that raise concerns that it could be carried out quickly. 

“People get out and there’s not much waiting for ‘em other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide,” Uthmeier said in the video post.

His proposed location of the Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport, often dubbed the Big Cypress Jet Port in recognition of its history, is operated by Miami-Dade County. 

The proposal came in response to Governor Ron DeSantis’s call for proposed detention center sites in the state. 

The location is located within Big Cypress National Preserve, which was established when Marjory Stoneman Douglas led a movement, starting the organization Friends of the Everglades, to prevent what was to become the largest airport in the world, Osceola said, recounting the history of the location.

Osceola was a child who was brought by her elders to numerous meetings related to the protection of the area, which led to establishing the Preserve to prevent development. 

Osceola lives in Ochopee, bordering Collier and Miami-Dade counties. Within hours, she mobilized opposition to respond and to gather at the Jetport to pray and educate.

Numerous individuals and organizations, including Love the Everglades Movement, Friends of the Everglades, Cypress Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, and others have expressed their support of the event, Osceola said in a phone interview Thursday evening. 

“[Sunday,] when you come, come as a human being with an open mind, with an open heart to understand what is going on because we’re going to win this on environment,” said Osceola in a video posted to social media on Saturday.

“And when I say environment, I myself understand human beings are a part of an environment. It’s not just about flora and fauna, even though I would say we are part of the flora and fauna because indigenous people are connected and we call this our relatives,” she said.

The only ground rules, she said, are not to agitate and not to come with an agenda or to co-opt the event, but rather be receptive to the indigenous-led opposition. 

Several government officials made statements online and told this reporter in phone interviews that it’s not possible to carry out this plan, and not to worry about reporting on it or opposing it. Osceola doesn’t trust it, she said. 

“We don’t need to be silent on it,” Osceola said. 

Collier County Commissioner Bill McDaniel quickly accepted a phone interview on the potential immigration detention center in the Glades. 

Uthmeier had said the facility could be up and running in 30 to 60 days once construction begins and could include more than 1,000 beds.

“It has zero possibility to occur,” said McDaniel in the interview on Friday morning. 

“It’s a pipe dream for somebody,” McDaniel said. He suggested that the video was posted to X to gain five minutes of fame and serve for reelection. 

“It would cost billions of dollars to effectuate this,” McDaniels said. “It would take millions of years for the permitting,” McDaniel said. “Hear the inflection in my voice,” he added. “This is ridiculous. The fact that it’s being stated on national news is ridiculous,” he said. 

On Friday, Osceola visited the site and saw the gates closed, which she has never seen prior in her decades of living in the Everglades, she said. Photographs of authorities at the site were posted to social media. 

“There’s no reason to freak out,” McDaniel said. “Tell the folks to take a breath, to breathe,” McDaniel suggested of the outrage brewing over the idea. 

Despite the apparent momentum, he said the detainment center could not be established at the location, which currently has no barracks to house people, let alone other infrastructure to support it, that would be disastrous to the environment amidst billions of dollars of spending in Everglades Restoration. 

Osceola strongly encouraged people be heard now. 

She maintained that expressing the public’s opposition is necessary at this time.

In addition to Sunday’s event, contacting officials such as the Miami Dade County Commission, Collier County Commission, Florida Attorney General, Governor Ron DeSantis and others can be part of the actions people can take to express their opinions on the matter. 

The indigenous-led event to “Say No to Alligator Alcatraz” is scheduled 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at 54575 Tamiami Trail East, Ochopee.