As Gov. Ron DeSantis insists the immigrant detention center in the Everglades is temporary, photos shared by an environmental law group show new construction using what appears to be asphalt.
The opening of the detention center drew almost immediate backlash and a lawsuit from environmental groups, arguing against construction in the highly sensitive environment of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
DeSantis labeled environmental concerns as illegitimate, claiming that construction occurred over already developed facilities, like the tarmac and taxiway, of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, and that any waste would be removed.
Aerial photographs from Friends of the Everglades, one of the groups suing federal and state officials, taken Saturday show land where grass has been removed and recently paved-over areas.
Other images that Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity entered as evidence in the suit show newly paved roads and light brightening the night sky from the detention center that were visible from approximately 15 miles away. Evidence shows the progression of the paved areas before and during construction.
“The environmental impacts will be devastating,” the groups wrote to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Thursday. “Defendants cannot hide from this fact — or from the public — under cover of darkness and avoid their responsibilities under federal law.”
The groups are suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Miami-Dade County alleging construction of the detention center violates a federal law that requires environmental analysis of potential harms and that the public did not get an opportunity to comment.
“The Governor is absolutely correct, Alligator Alcatraz was built only on existing runway facilities and paved areas,” a spokesperson for FDEM wrote in an email to Florida Phoenix. “All of those photos show pre-existing paved areas.”
During a Monday press conference in Jacksonville, DeSantis said the temporary structures from the 3,000-capacity tent and trailer detention center eventually would be broken down and moved. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who publicly rolled out the detention center he dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” announced on Wednesday that hundreds of people would arrive at the detention center that night.
“What we’re doing is temporary,” he said. “We’re not going to make permanent sites on these locations. You know, the place down in South Florida, it’s just a massive airport that’s there in the Everglades.”
Last week, the federal government distanced itself from responsibility for the site in its response to the suit, saying the federal regulations didn’t apply because it didn’t fund or authorize construction of the center.
President Donald Trump applauded Uthmeier for his role in opening the detention center during his July 1 visit.
“I know you’re taking a little heat from some environmental groups, but I take it all the time,” the president said. “That’s an honor.”
