(WSVN) - Hundreds of people took to the streets to protest the construction of an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades that officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” and are planning its opening in the coming days.
Environmental advocates demand a stop to construction on the 39-square-mile old airstrip in the heart of the Everglades.
“This shouldn’t be going on in the Everglades, anywhere else but the everglades,” said protester Heidi Fischer.
“They’re using sacred land for such a sinister and vile end goal,” said Giancarlo Castellanos, a protester. “Which is not okay, in any sense of the word.”
“I saw the dump trucks, I saw the concrete trucks,” said Phillip Stoddard, a protester. “They’re taking a big swath, and they’re wrecking it; that’s what really pushed me over the edge.”
“It’s not good for the water, it’s not good for the wildlife and the habitats,” said protester Daniel Mlodozeniec. “Why is it here?”
The Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport is being turned into the remote holding area. The site is surrounded by swamplands and the Big Cypress National Preserve.
Protesters said the area is known for its wetlands, and that it is critical for wildlife and the water supply.
“One of the things that unifies those of us out here is, on a bipartisan basis as taxpayers, we’ve invested in the Everglades,” said Former State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez.” In restoring this flow, in clean water. So for those of us in South Florida, we depend on this clean water. We depend on this ecosystem.”
“Advocating for the Everglades and the environment is advocating for all of us,” said Betty Osceola of the Miccosukee Tribe.
Osceola said she said she fears about contaminating the water supply for South Florida in the National Preserve, citing the large volume of fuel she’s seen go inside the facility.
“You know if a hurricane comes because this is Florida and that’s a given. You know they have a lot of fuel going inside. They have, they say that they’re going to house 5,000 people but with the ability to house 10,000 people. So what are their evacuation plans? Are they just going to leave them here? What’s going to happen to all that waste if it goes into the environment,” said Osceola.
Indigenous leaders were at the forefront Saturday, saying construction is encroaching on sacred lands.
“My ancestors are laid to rest out there, all around that place; the ancestors are there,” said Osceola. “The ancestors don’t like all these vehicles and fuel that’s being dumped on them.”
Those same sentiments were taken to court as environmental groups filed a lawsuit on Friday to halt the project until it goes through a stringent environmental review.
The environmental groups claim the review is required under federal and state law, with the governor’s office planning to oppose the suit in court.
“By Tuesday, this will be able to have intake of illegals,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Work is underway, with the site captured using trailers and heavy duty tents. Officials expect it will have 5,000 immigration detention beds in operation.
The Florida Guard will deploy 100 soldiers for security, with the possibility of more in the future.
“If a criminal alien were to escape from here somehow, and I don’t know, think they will, you’ve got nowhere to go,” said DeSantis during a visit to the site.
The detention center could cost the sate more than $450 million, with some that money expected to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed on Monday that President Donald Trump will visit the new immigration detention facility on Tuesday.
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