Above photo: Miccosukee and Seminole youth are leading protests against Alligator Alcatraz, built near sacred lands in the Everglades. Kat Grimmett.
Miami, FL – The Miccosukee Tribe and Friends of the Everglades won their lawsuit to shut down the detention camp known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” as ruled by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Thursday, August 21. The lawsuit was filed on June 27, and Judge Williams ordered a temporary stop to the construction on the site two weeks ago. Now, the state has 60 days to move the detainees and dismantle what’s been constructed so far.
The lawsuit was brought to the courts on the grounds of environmental damage caused by the facility to the fragile Everglades ecosystem. Twenty acres of land have been paved over with asphalt for the facility’s operations.
This decision comes just days after another U.S. District Judge, Rodolfo Ruiz, dismissed some of the complaints raised by people detained at so-called Alligator Alcatraz. Detainees alleged that they were unable to speak privately with their legal counsel or file legal documents to argue against their detention. Judge Ruiz dismissed the latter and said that another district court will proceed with the former.
Before the facility was operational, Miccosukee Tribal Elder Betty Osceola called for a protest on June 22. Hundreds of protesters were out in the Everglades by the future site of the concentration camp demanding that the construction stop and operations do not begin. Although the facility eventually opened, the Friends of the Everglades initiated the lawsuit that shut down the camp, with the Miccosukee Tribe joining the suit as a plaintiff.
The state of Florida filed an appeal and is attempting to find a way to resume its construction.
“We won’t back down,” said Claudia Rodriguez of the South Florida Anti-War Committee. “Hundreds of us came out in one of the worst heat waves of the year, standing under rain and shine, withstanding mosquitoes and humidity because we won’t be silent in the face of the Trump administration targeting our immigrant communities, dispossessing our indigenous neighbors, and destroying our environment.”
