Florida’s Untenable Alcatraz

In late June, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the state was moving forward on plans — negotiated without public or Tribal input — to build a tent-based immigration enforcement facility in the Western Everglades. This facility is designed to hold between 3,000 and 5,000 detainees on an isolated airstrip on the border of Big Cypress National Preserve at an estimated cost of $450 million a year. By July 2, just days after the public first learned about these plans, the facility was already open and holding several hundred people.

Ironically, the isolated jetport is the exact site where the National Parks Conservation Association once stood side by side with Marjory Stoneman Douglas and many others to defeat the development of a massive airport in 1968. This effort led directly to the creation of Big Cypress National Preserve. Two key stakeholders were part of that effort and have lived in and protected this landscape for millennia — the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes who continue to speak out against the misuse of their homelands.

This episode, host Jennifer Errick speaks with Curtis Osceola, senior executive policy advisor to the chairman of the Miccosukee Business Council; William “Popeye” Osceola, secretary of the Miccosukee Business Council; Dr. Melissa Abdo, NPCA Sun Coast regional director; and Marisa Carrozzo, NPCA senior coastal and wildlife program manager.

The Secret Lives of Parks is a production of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Episode 45, Florida’s Untenable Alcatraz, was produced by Jennifer Errick, with help from Todd Christopher, Bev Stanton and Linda Coutant.

Special thanks to Edward Ornstein, Deputy General Counsel and Tallahassee Embassy Director for the Miccosukee Tribe. Special thanks also to John Adornado, Cara Capp, Kristin Gladd and Kyle Groetzinger.

Original theme music by Chad Fischer.

Learn more about NPCA’s opposition to Alligator Alcatraz and speak out at npca.org/alligatoralcatraz

Learn more about this podcast and listen to the rest of our stories at thesecretlivesofparks.org

For more than a century, the National Parks Conservation Association has been protecting and enhancing America’s national parks for present and future generations. With more than 1.6 million members and supporters, NPCA is the nation’s only independent, nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to protecting national parks.

And we’re proud of it, too.

You can join the fight to preserve our national parks. Learn more and join us at npca.org