Just when I thought things couldn’t get much worse, they did. Our fearless leader had the brilliant idea of creating a migrant detention center in the environmentally precarious Florida Everglades. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis got on board quickly—surprise, surprise.
The center will house up to 3,000 undocumented migrants while they await due process (so they say) before they are sent out of the country. It will cost $450 million annually for the state to operate the facility. That’s right–$450 million each year. Florida provided the initial $450 million needed to create and operate the center and will seek reimbursement through FEMA. (FYI, FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters. Does it sound like an appropriate use of funds to you?)
Trump claims that it’s okay to disrupt the Everglades fragile ecosystem because there already is an airport there. As usual, he is wrong. In 1968, planners envisioned a large airport but backlash from conservationists stopped the construction after just one small runway was built. The backlash inspired the Florida Everglades movement and the creation of several environmental watchdog groups.
Let’s quickly review just how special the Everglades are.
The land is sacred to several Native American tribes that reside in 15 villages within the preserve.
Often called a river of grass, the Everglades are 86 percent wetlands surrounded by the Big Cyprus National Preserve. (Note the word Preserve.) Nine distinct habitats coexist in the Everglades, including cypress swamps, sawgrass marshes, and the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western hemisphere.
The Everglades are the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist in the same habitat. They are a haven for many endangered species, including the Florida panther, the West Indian manatee, and breeding grounds for tropical wading birds and home to 350 bird species.
One in three Floridians rely on the Everglades for their drinking water.
A coalition of environmental groups has filed a lawsuit claiming that the detention center did not undergo any of the environmental reviews that Federal law requires. Let’s watch what happens next.
In the few short days of its existence, the center has already flooded. (Just last week severe flooding killed at least 82 people in Texas.) Hurricane season is right around the corner, and it is unlikely that the center will meet hurricane codes. The risk of mosquito-borne diseases is significant. Heat and humidity in the area can charitably be described as brutal. Add to all that, a location that is virtually inaccessible to lawyers and family members.
Trump could care less about environmental issues. He has rolled back some of the nation’s key environmental safeguards which will profoundly affect the air we breathe and the water we drink. He has gutted funding for the agencies involved in the Chesapeake Bay restoration, including funds that restore and protect native species such as oysters, blue crabs, and striped bass.
Beside the horrific environmental implications of this center, one must also consider the racist overtones. Several studies have shown that racial resentment has contributed to Trump’s political ascendance. Clearly many of Trump’s claims smack of racism. He claimed that Obama wasn’t a legal American citizen. He said Haitians were eating the dogs and cats. He called Mexicans rapists. He said Harris was a DEI candidate. He said migrants murdered hundreds of women and girls. He tells nearly all-white crowds they have good genes. And now he is sending primarily Black and Brown migrants to what many claim resembles a German concentration camp.
I must admit all the July 4th celebrations rang hollow for me this year. It no longer feels like the land of the free and the home of the brave. There is no “crowning thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” Instead, the land that I love is being destroyed piece by piece. Wake up America.
Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.
Reed Rankin says
Can you suggest some alternatives to Alligator Alcatraz? Where else could we house soon-to-be-deported felons? Are there other facilities?
Marilyn Nace says
Hi Reed,
Thanks for raising your question. Most of the immigrants that are being picked up by ICE are guilty of entering the US illegally. Illegal entry is a “civil” offence, otherwise known as an infraction. Someone convicted of an infraction doesn’t pose a threat to society. A felon, on the other hand, is a person convicted of a felony such as grand theft, kidnapping, or murder. A felon does pose a threat to society. ICE has a goal to round-up 3,000 illegal immigrants a day. They are picking up both civil offenders and felons, mixing the two groups together, and incarcerating them. That was the complaint about the groups sent to CECOT prison in El Salvadore. ICE could/should design a system to identify one group from the other immediately. ICE could keep track of the civil offenders with an ankle bracelet. The felon would go into some type of lockdown. The number of felons compared to civil offense arrests is miniscule. One such detention center would work. It would be a more humane way to treat an individual than the one that is in place now. Here’s a question for you. Do you think illegal immigrants convicted of a civil offence should be deported?
Thank you,
Marilyn Nace
Maria W. Grant says
Reed, given that we’re talking about convicted felons, Mar a Lago might make some sense. However it is questionable what kind of due diligence has taken place on these detainees to date. So far, the track record is not stellar.
Art Cecil says
Add $450 million plus Everglades environmental damage to the cost Biden’s open borders policy has saddled us with. Thank you for helping us understand the impact.
Deirdre LaMotte says
The Bi partisan bill that would have done more than anything
in our nation’s history for border security was destroyed by Trump. It would have passed yet Trump wanted the issue to linger for his grotesque political
advantage.
He does not care one bit about “the border”. He wants theater mixed with cruelty
No decent American could fail to be horrified and deeply ashamed that our government, under the auspices of the Orwellian name, “Department of Homeland Security,” is complicit in these human rights atrocities.
This is just the beginning.
Bob Kopec says
Trump cares about nothing and no one except lining his corrupt pockets with ‘MORE.’ Don’t ask how much is ‘MORE.’ It never enough.
Wilson Dean says
With Alligator Alcatraz it appears as if Trump is mixing together two of his hallmark policies, extreme cruelty and ethnic cleansing. Of additional concern for those of us living on the Eastern Shore, he is displaying his disdain for the environmental beauty and benefits of the Everglades. As Maria so aptly points out, he is already cutting funds for preservation and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay—so whether you are MAGA, extreme liberal, or in-between and live here—we’re all next!
Courtney Kane says
Hear Hear! This article is spot on. I can only add that any use of this awful center counts on hundreds of trucks in and out on limited roads. All supplies, water and sanitation depends on trucks in and out. We’re trying here in Florida to mount a legal battle. The successful battle against the airport took just about every citizen organization in south Florida. The cruelty is staggering.
Maria W. Grant says
Courtney, thank you so much for your comment. So glad you are mounting a legal battle. And you are so right about the hundreds of trucks in and out on limited roads. What a disaster for the ecosystem!