TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Friday to block a migrant detention center dubbed now being built on an airstrip in the .
The lawsuit seeks to halt the project until it undergoes a stringent environmental review as required by federal and state law. There is also supposed to be a chance for public comment, according to the lawsuit filed in Miami federal court.
Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands, while Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials have defended it as part of the to support President Donald Trump鈥檚 .
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for coming forward with the idea, as the department looks to significantly expand its immigration detention capacity.
The center is set to begin processing people who entered the U.S. illegally as soon as next week, DeSantis said Friday on 鈥淔ox and Friends.鈥�
鈥淭he state of Florida is all in on President Trump's mission,鈥� DeSantis said on a tour of the facility. 鈥淭here needs to be more ability to intake, process and deport.鈥�
The state is plowing ahead with building a compound of heavy-duty tents, trailers and other temporary buildings at the Miami Dade County-owned airfield in the Big Cypress National Preserve, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami.
The state Republican Party has even begun selling T-shirts and other merchandise emblazoned with the 鈥淎lligator Alcatraz鈥� slogan.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity as well as the Friends of the Everglades, an organization started decades ago by 鈥淩iver of Grass鈥� author and Everglades champion to battle the original plan to build the airport. They are represented by the Earthjustice law firm and other attorneys including Florida writer Carl Hiaasen's son, Scott Hiaasen.
鈥淭his site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by the Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species,鈥� said Eve Samples, Friends of the Everglades executive director, in a news release. 鈥淭his scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.鈥�
The lawsuit names several federal and state agencies as defendants, including the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
DeSantis's spokesman said they will oppose the lawsuit in court.
鈥淕overnor Ron DeSantis has insisted that Florida will be a force multiplier for federal immigration enforcement, and this facility is a necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a pre-existing airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment," said spokesman Bryan Griffin in an email. "We look forward to litigating this case.鈥�
A protest led by Native Americans who is planned near the site on Saturday. There are 15 remaining traditional Miccosukee and Seminole tribal villages in Big Cypress, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites.
鈥淲e need this project to stop,鈥� said Betty Osceola, a Miccosukee leader who lives near the facility.
鈥淎ll this degradation that's going on, it's very concerning," she added.
The site of the detention center holds special significance for environmental activists, who half a century ago opposed a plan to build what was envisioned as the world鈥檚 largest airport just north of Everglades National Park.
The plans generated widespread opposition, including from Douglas. She and others founded Friends of the Everglades to battle against the project, but it took Republican politicians to kill it.
A U.S. Geological Survey environmental impact statement, one of the first of its kind, concluded that the proposed airport would 鈥渋nexorably destroy the south Florida ecosystem and thus the Everglades National Park.鈥�
That led GOP Florida Gov. Claude Kirk to withdraw state support for the airport, with President Richard Nixon following suit. The airport was halted, although one long runway remains.
But it didn鈥檛 end there. With President Gerald Ford鈥檚 support, the federal government for $150 million bought the surrounding land that on Oct. 11, 1974 became Big Cypress National Preserve, the nation鈥檚 first, according to the preserve鈥檚 website.
鈥淣ow, history is repeating itself as Friends once again must act to prevent destructive development in the heart of the Everglades ecosystem in the same location,鈥� reads the lawsuit filed Friday.
___
This story has been corrected to show the last name of a Florida writer and his son is spelled Hiaasen, not Hiassen.
___
Anderson reported from St. Petersburg, Fla. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Kate Payne And Curt Anderson, The Associated Press
