Environmental activists filed a lawsuit on Friday to stop the construction of a novel detention center for foreign nationals in Florida’s swampland.
The Trump administration previously green-lit a proposal by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to build a migrant detention center in the Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” However, just after the federal government announced it would help fund the endeavor, two major environmental groups are attempting to block its construction.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Everglades filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Friday to stop the implementation of the “reckless plan,” according to a press release from the organizations.
“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,” Eve Samples, Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades, said in a public statement.
“This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect,” Samples continued. “Friends of the Everglades was founded by Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 1969 to stop harmful development at this very location. Fifty-six years later, the threat has returned — and it poses another existential threat to the Everglades.”
The lawsuit Friday names the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Miami-Dade County as defendants, according to court documents. The environmental groups claim that the plan has not gone through a required environmental review or given the public an opportunity for comment.
“This massive detention center will blight one of the most iconic ecosystems in the world,” Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a prepared statement. “It makes no sense to build what’s essentially a new development in the Everglades for any reason, but this reason is particularly despicable.”
Uthmeier first proposed the idea of Alligator Alcatraz earlier in June, suggesting that the location would be perfect because migrant detainees would have virtually nowhere to escape. The project seeks to turn a virtually abandoned airfield into a massive detention center, assisting the Trump administration as it continues on with its goal of unprecedented immigration enforcement.
“When Attorney General Uthmeier proposed Alligator Alcatraz, we expected it would lead to frivolous claims and banter from those who oppose enforcing immigration law,” Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for Uthmeier, stated to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Our expectation proved correct, and we look forward to defending Florida’s efforts to support Secretary Noem and the Trump Administration with immigration enforcement.”
A massive region of flooded grassland in southern Florida, the Everglades is roughly 1.5 million acres and estimated to hold more than 200,000 alligators — making escape by foot a dangerous endeavor. The project is expected to cost around $450 million a year and will feature 5,000 beds to house illegal migrants and other foreign nationals under federal immigration detention.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed support for the project in a public statement Monday, adding that the facility would be funded, at least in large part, by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed to deliver cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” Noem previously stated. “We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from Uthmeier’s office.
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