Protecting the Everglades from a Massive Detention Center

The detention center plan has gone through no environmental review as required under federal law, and the public has had no opportunity to comment. The Everglades is the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere.

Clients

Friends of the Everglades

Regional Office / Program

Florida Office

Case Overview

Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity sued in U.S. District Court to protect the Florida Everglades from a reckless plan for a massive detention center to confine people who are rounded up in immigration raids.

The suit was filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Miami-Dade County.

Despite the plan going through no environmental review as required under federal law, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has plowed ahead with developing the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, roughly two hours west of Miami, and one hour east of Naples, in hopes of detaining up to 5,000 people there.

The Everglades is the largest continuous stand of sawgrass prairie and the most significant breeding ground for wading birds in North America. In 2010, it was designated as an endangered UNESCO World Heritage site.

Friends of the Everglades is represented by Earthjustice and attorneys Scott Hiaasen and Paul Schwiep.

A heron takes flight over wetlands in the Everglades in Florida. (Brian Lasenby / Shutterstock)

Case Updates

The migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Everglades on July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla.

March 3, 2026 Press Release

Florida Banked on $1.4 Billion in Federal Funds for Everglades Detention Center

The newly released files clearly show that the detention center, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” is a federal project. The facility is harming the waters and endangered plants and animals in one of Florida’s most cherished wild places.

February 8, 2026 In the News: WSUF

DeSantis spent $573 million on immigration. The feds may never pay Florida back

Tania Galloni, Managing Attorney, Florida Office: “The fact is that just as the district court found, this facility required federal environmental review from the beginning because it’s an ICE detention center. No delay in disbursing federal funds affects that reality.”