Amelia Schafer
ICT
A Florida federal judge has ordered a temporary halt to new construction at the Florida Immigration Detention Center nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz for 14 days.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday, Aug. 7, following a two-day hearing on a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida against the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem and other government officials.
The tribe and nonprofits are suing the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging the organizations have violated the Environmental Protection Act, National Historic Preservation Act and Administrative Procedures Act.
The suit accuses DHS of failing to complete necessary environmental surveys, failing to provide notice to nearby residents, and not engaging as federally required with the tribe as the site contains potential cultural artifacts and burial sites.
“That lawsuit is needed because there’s really no accountability here,” said Betty Osceola, a Miccosukee citizen who lives within several miles of the detention center. “They did not do any environmental impact studies. They didn’t pull any permits. They just came in, commandeered their land, which is a land grab. They just took land from a county and started doing what they want with it.”
The site is within the Big Cypress National Preserve and was constructed on a concrete slab originally created for the world’s largest airport. The airport never happened, after mass demonstrations from locals and tribal members, including the famous Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who founded Friends of the Everglades.
Lucas Osceola, assistant chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe, said the tribe was never informed about the facility being built within traditional homelands and has not heard from the Department of Homeland Security since. The tribe found out about Alligator Alcatraz when the rest of the United States did, from a June 23 video post on X by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Lucas said he could not directly comment on the ongoing lawsuit.
“The Everglades is part of our backbone of a society of a tribe,” Lucas said. “During the Seminole Wars that we fought in, it was our shelter, it was our protector. We still fight and protect that on a day-to-day basis ensuring that it’s here for when we need it again in the future.”
Aside from being a tribal member, Betty Osceola said she and others living outside the facility never received any form of notice that the facility would be built there.
While the site isn’t on trust or tribal land, it’s a place the Miccosukee and Seminole have a sovereign right to access.
According to a 2020 court filing, the Miccosukee have the right to access the Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve (where the site is located) and the greater Everglades area.
These rights are guaranteed by several documents, including the tribe’s federal Indian reservation codified rights, the enabling acts of both Everglades National Park and the BIg Cypress, the tribe’s leased-land agreements, and permits to use land along the Miccosukee Reserved Area.