Tampa, Fla. (WFLA) – Gov. Ron Desantis calls the “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“We were in a situation where there was as limited space as the ice could have,” DeSantis said. “You know, are all our prisons full of illegals, or do you want to do that on a different mission?”
The Everglades’ controversial immigration detention center is scheduled to open Tuesday, and DeSantis said President Donald Trump is expected to be there.
“Get out of my swamp!” cried out the protesters.
There were no female cases resolved in Florida 47 years later.
Hundreds of protesters, environmental activists and Native Americans lined up us on Highway 41 over the weekend to oppose the “Wannial Catraz.”
“This is sacred land for the natives and they deserve to keep it that way,” protester Sofia Morales said. “These are not just wild public lands for everyone, but they are also sacred spaces for the Indigenous communities here.”
While defending their sacred land and the preservation of Evergrade ecosystems, the dump trucks rolled past the transport material into the immigration detention center.
“This is my home,” Betty Osceola said.
Located on a small air strip in Miami-Dade County. The $450 million annual facility can accommodate 5,000 undocumented immigrants.
Desantis administrators used emergency to seize the site to build the facility and said business is ready by Tuesday.
“You can bring people, they’ll be processed, they have an order of removal, they can line up, you can have the federal government fly right there on the runway,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis said some of the state’s national security guards could serve as immigration judges on the scene.
The 8 is said on your side: Currently, 100 soldiers have up to 100 soldiers providing assistance at Dade Collier Transition Airport in O’Copy since Tuesday.
“They’re always happening for judges for councils and detainees across the state, so there’s a remote hearing and even outside of Florida, they’ll be dealt with through this new facility and have a final written nature of their case.”
Castro is the founder of the immigration law firm USA 4 All. She said it was not just its impact on the Everglades, but its remoteness.
“Remote areas like this will result in the inability to access justice for immigrant detainees,” Castro said. “Remember that there is no constitutional right to lawyers for individuals who are detained for immigration violations. Therefore, they need to secure private immigrants, lawyers who are overwhelmed at this point.”
The environmental group filed a federal lawsuit suing the Department of Homeland Security and the state of Florida, claiming the site was not subject to the environmental review required by law. Under his order, DeSantis argued that the state “invested billions and billions of dollars to increase and improve Everglades’ hydrology.”
