Everglades Detention Center

A Betrayal of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy

Fifty-five years ago, Floridians faced a crossroads. A bold but reckless plan to build a massive airport in the heart of the Everglades threatened one of the most ecologically critical regions in Florida and the United States. Citizens, scientists, and conservationists rallied against the proposal of the Everglades Jetport. In a stunning display of public advocacy, the people won against the Development Industrial Complex, and the Jetport was never completed. Even the Nixon administration recognized the project’s environmental danger, and federal pressure helped halt its construction.

Today, we face an eerily similar situation. Powerful and influential political figures are proposing to build in the Everglades once again. The new plan, dubbed by some as “Alligator Alcatraz,” involves constructing a large immigration detention center on the same sensitive land where the Jetport was once proposed. This site lies near Everglades National Park and within Big Cypress National Preserve, one of the most fragile ecosystems.

It’s a plan that ignores both history and science. Attorney General James Uthmeier and Governor Ron DeSantis are championing this proposal, despite clear environmental concerns and the strong opposition of conservationists and local communities. Their support of this development is deeply troubling, not only for the harm it threatens to inflict on the Everglades but for what it says about their disregard for the lessons of the past.

The Everglades are not just swampland; they are a keystone of Florida’s environmental health. The proposed detention center would bring roads, pavement, pollution, and sprawling infrastructure into a region that simply cannot afford to be further fragmented or degraded.

In 1970, thousands of Floridians saw this clearly. They understood that sacrificing a piece of the Everglades for short-term gains would have long-term, irreversible consequences. Their grassroots movement successfully stopped the Jetport and led to the creation of Big Cypress National Preserve, protecting over 700,000 acres of wetland wilderness. Their fight is remembered as a landmark moment in environmental activism.

Now, we must summon that same courage and clarity. Allowing the construction of a detention facility in this area not only revives a dangerous idea from the past, but it also sets a precedent that could unravel decades of conservation work. If development is allowed here, no part of Florida’s wild spaces will be safe. The so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” would be a monument to short-sighted governance, not security or justice.

Instead, this land should receive lasting protection. Rather than exploiting it, we should celebrate and safeguard it, both for its ecological value and as a testament to the power of public action. The people of Florida must once again rise to defend the Everglades, just as they did over five decades ago.

Our future depends on the choices we make today. Let us learn from the mistake Florida avoided in 1970—not repeat it under a new name.