The governor’s office said no vegetation will be removed, no paving nor permanent construction. Environmental groups say to expect pollution and impacts to wildlife.
JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Work is underway to turn an old air strip in the Everglades into an immigrant detention facility that has now been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Social justice groups aren’t the only ones opposed to this. Now, environmental groups are crying foul.
This week, trailers were placed on the old air strip at the Dade-Collier training airport. It’s part of the process to create a 5,000-bed immigration detention facility on 39 acres of land, proposed by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
“The perimeter’s already been set by Mother Nature. Some think this is a joke. But we’re serious,” Uthmeier said on a recent podcast.
The Sierra Club Florida has entered the fight, hoping to stop or slow down what it says will directly impact the fragile environment.
“Governor DeSantis and Attorney General Uthmeier are completely wrong to dismiss serious environmental concerns about the Alligator Alcatraz. The Everglades is not a staging area for mobile infrastructure,” Javier Estevez said. He is the Sierra Club Florida Political and Legislative Director.
The air strip is owned by Miami-Dade County, and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has concerns.
She told reporters, “It is an area that we have invested as a nation billions of dollars for protecting our natural environment, our water supply.”
Monday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management sent a letter to the Miami-Dade mayor to say the state will use the city’s facility under the governor’s emergency powers.
The governor’s office sent First Coast News a statement saying Florida will take the “lead on immigration enforcement.” And as far as the environment, the governor’s office stated no vegetation will be removed and there will be no more paving or permanent construction.
However, the Sierra Club, other environmental groups and leaders of the Miccosukee tribe protested this past weekend near the site of the airstrip.
Estevez told First Coast News, “Even a temporary installation can have long-lasting impacts, introducing pollution, disrupting water flows, and threatening endangered species and habitats that recovery efforts have worked hard to protect.”