Parks Group Opposes “Alligator Alcatraz” Detention Center in the Everglades

Hollywood, Fla. – Today, President Donald Trump visited the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz,” an immigrant detention site the DeSantis administration has rushed to construct in the Everglades, a landscape that includes iconic national park sites like Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve.

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) strongly opposes development of this tented detention complex on environmental and humanitarian grounds.

This exact site is where NPCA and diverse stakeholders joined famed Everglades advocate Marjory Stoneman Douglas in facing down the original jetport threat in the 1960s, helping build momentum that was vital in bringing about the establishment of Big Cypress National Preserve.

Development and daily operations of this facility, which is slated to imprison thousands of people, could very well bring harm to the people it’s meant to hold, the surrounding park landscapes in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park, wildlife and resources, and the freshwater connected to the entire Greater Everglades system.

There has been no meaningful consultation or discussion of this proposal between the DeSantis or Trump administration and communities in south Florida, Tribal nations, or concerned environmental groups.

Statement of Melissa Abdo, PhD, National Parks Conservation Association Sun Coast Regional Director:

“Building a bare-bones tented detention center on hot tarmac in the middle of the Everglades and exposing imprisoned immigrants to the elements is a cruel and absurd proposal. The Everglades’ intense heat, humidity, and storms can be hazardous without proper precautions. This facility’s remote, harsh nature could leave people in very real danger, especially as Florida’s heat index skyrockets and hurricane season escalates.

“Development of this scale at this location would require massive changes to an ecologically delicate landscape, including running huge generators, trucking in massive amounts of food and water and trucking out waste. Endangered wildlife, iconic national parks, and Florida’s fresh drinking water supply would be at risk from this ill-conceived plan. Communities and villages that live in the area, as well as the people detained and working at this facility, could all be at serious risk if the need arose to quickly evacuate from a hurricane, using only a single two-lane highway that’s currently under construction.

“The state and federal government have spent billions working to restore the Everglades. Now the government wants to spend millions on this atrocious plan that could undermine Florida’s national parks and the Everglades ecosystem people have worked so hard to protect. For decades, Floridians of every political stripe, including members of the Trump administration, have fought to make the Everglades the greatest environmental success story of all time. We must not risk all this progress for an inhumane facility like this. Governor DeSantis and President Trump should abandon this proposal and focus instead on what the Everglades are for: protecting a one-of-a-kind ecosystem for future generations.”

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About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.6 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org