It’s an Illegal Deportation Camp Only 900 Feet from a Traditional Miccosukee Village

Guest Opinion. Experts say Alligator Alcatraz, Florida’s new detention center built without tribal consent in violation of treaty rights and tribal sovereignty, is also flawed and will compromise the safety of people being held there.

In fact, even video posted by the administration on social media showed water covering the ground dangerously near electricity cables during a storm just as the first detainees were due to arrive.

In the last 10 years, Florida has been hit by 13 hurricanes, seven have been category three or higher. Obviously, as Dr Patrick McSharry, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and former head of catastrophe risk financing at Oxford University, told Sky News "there's no way that a tent is going to be in any way something that you would advise someone to be in” during a hurricane of any strength.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the site and the wetlands immediately surrounding it is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species. The waste water and other contaminants from the center threatens the entire Everglades ecosystem.

There are so many reasons Alligator Alcatraz should never have been allowed to open, there’s only one way to fix it: Shut it down. 

Federal environmental regulations were tossed aside.

Tribal sovereignty was violated.

Detainees have already reported inhumane conditions, including one meal a day, maggots in food, and no water available for showers.

And the private prison contractors may have engaged in a pay to play scheme of donations to Trump and Republicans in exchange for contracts.

There’s no time to waste. Congress must investigate the private prison contractors involved, hold them responsible for breaking the law, and shut down Alligator Alcatraz immediately

Judith LeBlanc (Caddo), executive director of Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund, whixh is a partner to Native Organizers Alliance.

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