Locals Say No to Alligator Alcatraz

Another demonstration to say “no” to Alligator Alcatraz is scheduled for this Saturday, June 28th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, TNT, 54575 Tamiami Trail East, Ochopee, the Alligator Alcatraz site.

Residents gathered in the Everglades to oppose Alligator Alcatraz on Sunday only for the government to move forward with the immigration detention center without local or public input or support.

Following constituents’ concerns, Collier County Commissioners discussed the status of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center being installed at the Miami Dade Jet Port located in Ochopee on Tuesday morning. Collier County officials were disappointed not to be informed about the project sooner, they said.

“I have to be careful not biting the hand that feeds me,” Collier County Emergency Manager Dan Summers said.

The site was first visited by state and federal authorities in February, Summers said.
Many state and county government officials were not only not included in the decision but were not informed, thus not afforded any time to inform their constituents about the detention center that may house 5,000 or more immigrants as early as July 1, per ever-changing plans announced by Uthmeier as of Tuesday.

On Saturday morning, Collier County staff communications to state officials about Alligator Alcatraz revealed the immigration detention center was just a plan. However, by end of the day, mobilization on the site had already begun without any return contact, county officials said.

Uthmeier initially made his plan public on the social media platform X on Thursday, June 19.
“This is in my district. I had no visibility on this whatsoever,” said Commissioner Bill McDaniel, who initially thought the social media announcement was a political ploy with almost no potential to become reality.
“I am very disappointed,” McDaniel said during Tuesday’s Council meeting.

Collier County Commission Chairman Burt Saunders was most concerned about hurricane safety and response, he said. After all, the invasive Burmese pythons killing most of the mammals in the Everglades were due to a release following a hurricane. Despite Uthmeier’s threats that the snakes could kill the immigrants, Burmese pythons are not aggressive to humans.

“We’re in the middle of a hurricane season, everybody knows that. It becomes our problem with thousands of people out there,” Saunders said.

“I’m going to address that,” Summers replied.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie is to be the communications point person on the project, they said. So, public information will not be made available through Collier County government.

Instead, people are urged to communicate with state, federal and Miami-Dade officials. Miami-Dade made a real estate deal with the state to use the land for the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center.

Guthrie sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro, signaling the government’s intention to purchase rights to the land for $20 million.

It was an error to send to LoCastro, who is not the representative of the District, he said.
In response, Cava requested due diligence at the site, which is in the center of Everglades restoration projects that are costing billions of dollars.

Nonetheless, a generator, trailers, and other facilities were already being moved in over the weekend.

“The contractors are going to have their hands full with anything temporary,” Saunders said.
“There are escalating consequences if we’re looking at a storm threat,” he added.
Although Collier County Sheriff’s Office officials were at the site guarding the gate with Miami Dade Police, Collier County has no jurisdiction over the matter, Saunders said.
County Attorney Jeff Klatzkow is confirming that the county could have no say in the matter as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida was reviewing all potential steps that could be taken to protect the site and the Tribe. Several Seminole and Miccosukee families live near the site and are concerned.
“The Miccosukee Tribe is opposed to the use of our ancestral lands in Big Cypress as a detention facility. The State would save substantial taxpayer dollars by pursuing its goals at a different location with more existing infrastructure and less environmental and cultural impacts to the Big Cypress and Tribal lands,” said Miccosukee Tribal Chairman Talbert Cypress in a prepared statement issued Monday.

“We are hopeful that the State will change course and allow these lands to continue to be preserved,” Cypress said.

Details about Alligator Alcatraz Rapidly Changing

Uthmeier announced on Thursday his plans for Alligator Alcatraz, and by Monday, the plans and actions had changed rapidly. What was to occur in 30 to 60 days ended up growing in scope and occurring over a weekend instead. As of Monday, the plans for the detention center are for it to include temporary structures to house 5,000 immigrant detainees, an increase from the 1,000 detainees he had said just days earlier. The project could cost $450 million each year to operate and will remain for some time, according to Uthmeier.

The Jet Port is approximately 25,000 acres with a 10,500-foot runway located within Collier County, but rights to the land were given to Miami Dade County to operate in the 1960s, Summers said. It was proposed to be the largest airport in the world, but Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, through creation of the nonprofit Friends of the Everglades, led to the establishment of Big Cypress National Preserve to prevent the airport and future development. Nonetheless, threats to the Preserve, such as this, continue.

Legal Questions Raised by Alligator Alcatraz
The process or lack of process has many individuals and organizations questioning the legality of Alligator Alcatraz, despite its stemming from the state’s legal authority.
Declaring in communications to Collier and Miami-Dade counties after the plans were already put into motion that the state’s use was emergency related, and because they are using what are described as temporary facilities, several legal and environmental assessment processes have been avoided thus far.

“What really stands out to me is that it’s the state of Florida that’s initiating this detention center. The states should not be in the business of building detention centers for immigrants that are awaiting deportation,” immigration attorney Hector Diaz said.

“These detention centers are for processing and for temporarily housing them if they are not eligible for a bond or cannot be immediately deported,” Diaz continued.
Florida has authorized Florida Highway Patrol and local sheriffs to arrest undocumented immigrants.

“Pretty soon, before you know it, the state will start appointing immigration judges and prosecutors, and have their own immigration system,” Diaz warned.

Indigenous-led Ceremony Leads Protest Movement

“Marjorie Stoneman Douglas must be rolling over in her grave,” said Ochopee resident Betty Osceola of the Panther Clan of the Miccosukee Tribe as she organized an educational protest within hours of the proposal’s public announcement.

Hundreds of people, and some estimating nearly 1,000 attendees, arrived to the event Sunday along U.S. 41, opening with indigenous ritual and prayer and carrying signs of opposition. Vehicles lined the Tamiami Trail and people stood along the side of the road.
Across the street, law enforcement guarded a now-closed gate to Dade-Collier Training Facility, which Saunders said is an airstrip that is dubbed TNT. Those gates had been open for decades, where community members, including resident Caryn Billie, said they rode bikes and walked their dogs. Billies’ family lives within less than a quarter of a mile of the site.

“This is not political,” Osceola said. “We’re going to win this on the environment,” she said.

Osceola urged people to remember what it means to be a human being, acknowledging that in her culture it is known that there is no separation between humans, animals, plants, water, and the environment.

“This is the Everglades. It’s a place where you’re just a human being. You are one with nature,” echoed Maria Rodriguez, a resident of Immokalee, who follows in the footsteps of her grandmother Corina Hernandez, who was also a Hispanic leader, she said.

“We get wrapped up too much with politics. This is about defending the sacred,” Rodriguez said.

Musician Champ Jaxon was on site, singing a song by the same name, “Defend the Sacred.” Joining the protest were numerous nonprofit organizations, including Friends of the Everglades, the Sierra Club, Love the Everglades Movement, and numerous others.
Renowned photographer Clyde Butcher spoke, as did people of many backgrounds and ages.
Philip Stoddard, former mayor of South Miami, said the idea of the Everglades providing a safe perimeter for escapees was absurd, as evidenced by all the people standing in the Everglades for hours with nothing more than a mosquito bite— or several.

“It’s beautiful. It’s not a wasteland,” Osceola said.

“Pythons run from people. They don’t go after people,” Butcher said. “People in Tallahassee describing this as a God awful place, I think that’s what pissed me off more than anything,” he said.

In the summer, people will drink from the water right in the Everglades, Butcher said.
“It’s a healing place,” Osceola said. “This area has life. It’s a living organism,” she said. “Whatever we do, it reciprocates back to us,” Osceola said. “In return, all it asks is for you to love it,” she said.

“I think Creator is more important than the governor,” she added.
Robert Rosa, a Taino indigenous to Puerto Rico, spoke directly to the law enforcement at the gate using a microphone from across the street.

“You don’t have to follow orders. You can be a natural being too and do what’s right,” Rosa said. “We’re going to tell you we love you, we pray for you, but don’t get in our way,” he added.

As Osceola had directed in her ground rules, there were no agitators or disruptors to the event.

Garrett Stuart, of the Lakota Nation, and a resident of Ochopee, spoke, sang, and prayed. “You hold signs so the people can understand. I pray so the other side can understand. And we’re doing this together,” Stuart said.
“With immigration, one of the things they’re forgetting is they’re colonizers. How could you rightfully kick someone out of a country you kicked people out of yourself,” questioned attendee Laura Gutierrez.

Perhaps Osceola provided the answer.
“You don’t know who you are. You’re a human being. Be a human being again,” Osceola said. “Let’s be human beings and advocate for everybody. And take away those labels and let’s treat everybody with respect,” Osceola said. “Everything going on in the environment is a reflection of what’s going on around it,” she said. “You’re standing up for the environment because you are the environment,” she said.

Despite all the activity through the weekend and early into the week, Osceola advised not giving up. Don’t allow any doubts that this can be stopped, she said.