The Shadow of Colonization Creeps over Native Lands, Again

For generations, the land that is now being used for DeSantis and Trump's political goals has been the area where the Miccosukee people have lived. After urban development by settlers forced many Native tribes away from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, tribes such as the Miccosukee have called the Everglades home, building villages throughout the marsh. The land has been considered sacred as providing refuge from the annihilation that faced so many Native tribes. "These lands are not empty stretches of wilderness, nor are they merely backdrops to policy decisions —they are living, breathing homelands, deeply tied to the cultural, spiritual, and historical identity of Miccosukee and Florida Seminole people," said Lewis J. Johnson, principal chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.

Throughout the years, the Miccosukee and Seminole people have resisted construction that encroaches on their lands. In 1968, Dade County authorities planned to build the Big Cypress Jetport on the same land that the Miccosukee used for cultural practices. The airport was designed to be the "world's largest airport." Fortunately, in 1969, a council of both conservationists and tribal members persuaded the former Florida Governor Kirk Jr. that the airport would be damaging to the Everglades. Construction was ordered to be halted, and only one runway remained.

The development of the airport is at the same site where ICE construction is now underway, surrounded on three sides by the homes of the Seminole and Miccosukee people. The complex, quickly erected with no notice to tribal leaders, now holds up to 5,000 in tents and trailers, and has become a necessary tool in carrying out President Trump's deportation agenda. For tribal leaders and environmental advocates, the project represents a collapse of their protection of the land they hold very sacred. In a space that was once used for ceremonial grounds, burial purposes, with 15 remaining traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages, "the constant rumbling of passing dump trucks drowns out the once familiar chirping of birds." On the land where families once prayed, hunted, and gathered, immigrants are being separated from their families.

Native communities continue to fight for the protection of their sacred lands in the Everglades.

Beyond facing pushback from indigenous groups, many conservationists are also raising alarm. The detention center sits in the Big Cypress National Preserve, an area designed to be a federally protected part of the Everglades, and an area that provides drinking water to much of South Florida. Conversations raise issue to the issue that no environmental study was done on the area, atypical of normal policy surrounding construction on federally protected land. The construction, which includes new pavement, air traffic, and lighting, threatens habitats for endangered species such as the Florida panther and bonneted bat.

In court, groups including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity argued that the government bypassed the environmental reviews usually required under NEPA and the EPA, especially dangerous in one of the most key centers for biodiversity in America. In response, a judge ordered a two-week halt to new construction; however, operations at the facility are allowed to continue.

In another decision, a Miami court ruled the Florida corrections agency must give ICE the names of any people detained, and the federal agency can veto the detention of anyone it views as inappropriate. Yes, you heard that right. ICE provides oversight over the detention of victims.

As expected, the DeSantis administration has defended the project as lawful, criticising the court's decision to halt construction. A spokesperson for the attorney general stated, "Judge Williams' order is wrong, and we will fight it. However, it does not shut down Alligator Alcatraz, which will continue to send illegal aliens back to where they came from," the statement read.

It isn't just the state of Florida that has defended the project. At a tour of the facility with Kristi Noem, Trump stated "It's very appropriate, because I looked outside and it's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon. We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swamp land, and the only way out is really deportation."

Although the Trump administration has claimed otherwise, many of the people being detained in the camp are not criminals. Vichara recounts that her husband went to routine immigration appointments before randomly being detained. Once in the center, many describe it as a "concentration camp" due to the conditions, but the story doesn't get much better. Detainees such as Collado, who need blood pressure medication, are denied access to their medication, a violation of basic human rights under international law and the 8th Amendment. In the camp, detainees like Juan Panma recount only being able to shower every four days, and being kept in a "cage" with 32 other immigrants. Conditions like these, especially in a camp with a lack of access to healthcare, are a breeding ground to spread disease.

The federal court hearing in Miami later this month could determine whether the state must conduct a full environmental impact study, a process that could delay or even halt the project. Furthermore, advocacy groups such as the ACLU are suing the administration for denying due process and rights to legal counsel for immigrants detained in the facility.

For now, the lights of Alligator Alcatraz keep shining across the Everglades night, a cruel reminder to its residents of a battle they thought they won in 1968.