One of two federally-recognized tribes in Florida wants to join a lawsuit to stop Alligator Alcatraz from operating in the Everglades.
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida have filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed in federal court by the Friends of the Everglades, Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The Tribe remains committed to ensuring its traditional lands are not used as a detention facility,” Tribe Chairman Talbert Cypress said.
The tribe had previously denounced the immigration facility: Its members have organized protests outside of its gates and tribal leadership has reached out to state and federal government with concerns over the facility’s environmental impact in Big Cypress National Preserve.
While Alligator Alcatraz is supposed to be temporary, Cypress said the tribe has not been told of a closure date.
“As a consequence, we must take legal action to compel the parties to remove this facility, given its outsized budgetary, environmental, community safety and logistical impacts,” he said in a statement.
The plaintiffs named in the motion are Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie and Miami-Dade County government.
The tribe argues the government failed to do any studies on whether the construction and the facility itself would have a negative impact on the environment and the people near the site, who are all located downstream.
Alligator Alcatraz is located near 15 traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages, as well as several ceremonial grounds, burial grounds and gathering sites within the preserve.
The state opened the facility July 1, eight days after the state seized what was formerly called the Dade-Collier Training and Transitional Airport from Miami-Dade County to begin setting up a tent- and trailer-based facility for detained immigrants.
Florida officials say the site is necessary for “coping with the emergency” that is federal immigration enforcement, but tribal nations with ancestral ties to Big Cypress say Alligator Alcatraz will hurt the environment where members of the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribe of Florida live, hunt, fish, gather and pray.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida, the other federally-recognized tribe, also denounced the facility. In a July 2 statement, Marcellus Osceola Jr., chairman of the Seminole Tribe, said the tribe stands with members who are protesting Alligator Alcatraz. A request for official comment from the Seminole Tribe of Florida is pending.
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida seeks to join lawsuit against Alligator Alcatraz
Reporting by Ana Goñi-Lessan, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
