‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Faces Legal Challenge Days Before Opening

Two environmental charities on Friday filed a lawsuit at a Miami federal court attempting to block the opening of a new migrant processing facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Florida Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by some Republicans.

The suit was launched by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity who argued the proposal violates the National Environmental Policy and Endangered Species acts.

Newsweek contacted the Department of Homeland Security, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Center for Biological Diversity for comment via email on Saturday outside of regular office hours.

Why It Matters

Since assuming office in January, the second Trump administration has overseen a major crackdown aimed at removing illegal migrants from the United States, with intensified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the country.

Trump has vowed to deport upwards of 11 million people from the country and doing so would require a dramatic expansion in detention and deportation facilities.

What To Know

Friday’s lawsuit was filed in the federal Southern District of Florida with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting ICE director Todd Lyons listed among the defendants.

The new detention center is under construction at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a training 39-square-mile site near Big Cypress National Preserve which has a 10,000 foot asphalt runway.

During an interview with Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy, that aired on Friday, DeSantis said the center should be ready to take its first detainees by Tuesday. Footage from the site showed portable restrooms and air conditioning systems underneath tent-like canopies.

Florida authorities say the facility will take $450 million to build, with the cost to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Friday’s lawsuit argues the facility violates the Environmental Policy and Endangered Species acts and is calling for an expedited hearing to stop construction until an environmental hearing is complete.

The Everglades is home to a number of threatened or endangered species including the Florida panther, American flamingos, manatees and American crocodiles. It also contains an estimated 200,000 alligators, hence the new facility’s nickname.

What People Are Saying

Friends of the Everglades executive director Eve Samples told Newsweek: “This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.

“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 states: “The facility and associated operations will use and impair the Big Cypress National Preserve by causing direct and indirect harm to its wetlands, wildlife and air and water quality.

“These impacts will result in the degradation of the natural, scenic, hydrologic, floral and faunal and recreational values for which the preserve was created.”

Speaking to The Washington Post, DeSantis spokesperson Bryan Griffin said the governor looks “forward to litigating this case,” adding he “has insisted that Florida will be a force multiplier for federal immigration enforcement, and this facility is a necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a pre-existing airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment.”

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether the Southern District of Florida court will order a halt on operations at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport until an environmental review is completed. Such a move would infuriate Republicans with a large expansion in detention facilities required to hit Trump’s deportation target.