Environmental teams file lawsuit to cease migrant detention heart in Florida Everglades
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Environmental teams filed a federal lawsuit Friday to dam a migrant detention heart dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” now being constructed on an airstrip within the coronary heart of the Florida Everglades.
The lawsuit seeks to halt the venture till it undergoes a stringent environmental evaluation as required by federal and state regulation. There may be additionally speculated to be an opportunity for public remark, in accordance with the lawsuit filed in Miami federal courtroom.
Critics have condemned the power as a merciless and inhumane menace to the ecologically delicate wetlands, whereas Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and different state officers have defended it as a part of the state’s aggressive push to assist President Donald Trump’s crackdown on unlawful immigration.
The middle is ready to start processing individuals who entered the U.S. illegally as quickly as subsequent week, DeSantis mentioned Friday on “Fox and Pals.”
“The state of Florida is all in on President Trump’s mission,” DeSantis mentioned on a tour of the power. “There must be extra capacity to consumption, course of and deport.”
The state is plowing forward with constructing a compound of professional quality tents, trailers and different short-term buildings on the Miami Dade County-owned airfield within the Huge Cypress Nationwide Protect, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami.
The state Republican Occasion has even begun promoting T-shirts and different merchandise emblazoned with the “Alligator Alcatraz” slogan.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Middle for Organic Variety in addition to the Pals of the Everglades, a corporation began many years in the past by “River of Grass” creator and Everglades champion Marjory Stoneman Douglas to battle the unique plan to construct the airport. They’re represented by the Earthjustice regulation agency and different attorneys together with Florida author Carl Hiaasen’s son, Scott Hiaasen.
“This web site is greater than 96% wetlands, surrounded by the Huge Cypress Nationwide Protect, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and different iconic species,” mentioned Eve Samples, Pals of the Everglades govt director, in a information launch. “This scheme isn’t solely merciless, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to guard.”
The lawsuit names a number of federal and state companies as defendants, together with the Division of Homeland Safety, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Division of Emergency Administration.
DeSantis’s spokesman mentioned they are going to oppose the lawsuit in courtroom.
“Governor Ron DeSantis has insisted that Florida shall be a power multiplier for federal immigration enforcement, and this facility is a vital staging operation for mass deportations positioned at a pre-existing airport that may don’t have any influence on the encompassing atmosphere,” mentioned spokesman Bryan Griffin in an e-mail. “We stay up for litigating this case.”
A protest led by Native People who think about the land sacred is deliberate close to the location on Saturday. There are 15 remaining conventional Miccosukee and Seminole tribal villages in Huge Cypress, in addition to ceremonial and burial grounds and different gathering websites.