COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Sunday afternoon, people are planning to gather at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ for a weekly vigil outside the immigrant detention facility.
Last weekend, the Archdiocese of Miami celebrated its first mass there after reaching an agreement for access.
The prayer vigils are a form of peaceful demonstration, but inside a courtroom 50 miles away, a legal battle is heating up.
A federal judge halted construction at the controversial detention center deep in the everglades, a decision that came down Thursday.
The facility is still allowed to operate, but construction was put on hold for the next two weeks as claims about environmental law violations are under review.
“I don’t have any choice but to be here and pray at this location and keep this attention,” said activist Betty Osceola.
Osceola is with the Miccosukee Tribe, which along with other environmental groups, including Friends of the Everglades, made their case to a federal judge in Miami. They claimed the project inside the Big Cypress National Preserve threatens the sensitive wildlife and was made without conducting any environmental reviews.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed those concerns, pointing to the property’s prior use as an aviation training site and defending the decision to use the aging airstrip as a runway to expedite deportation flights.
“There’s going to be zero impact on the surrounding area, they’re utilizing the existing concrete footprint, even on the interior of the airport where there’s grass, they’re staying off that grass,” said DeSantis. “We would not have agreed to do it at that site if I thought that somehow it was going to negatively impact all the great work we’ve done on improving and restoring the Everglades.”
The state attorney general’s office fired back against the judge’s decision, calling it wrong and saying that they will continue their fight, but it’s not the only challenge they’re up against.
The ACLU filed a separate lawsuit claiming due process violations against detainees.
That hearing is set for August 18.
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