OCHOPEE, Fla. — The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida has filed a lawsuit against the state’s new immigration detention facility in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
In a statement, the tribe says the detention center was built on its traditional lands.
Judith LeBlanc (Caddo), executive director of Native Organizers Alliance, said “Alligator Alcatraz” was built without the tribe’s consent
“The Miccosukee Tribe has an inherent right to determine the future of their ancestral homelands. Yet they were not consulted when this huge immigrant detention center was quickly constructed,” she said. “The construction of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is a violation of the sovereign rights of the Miccosukee and endangers a culturally and ecologically important landscape. It is also a violation of the human rights of immigrants and their families. It is both illegal and immoral.”
LeBlanc says the federal government has guaranteed treaty and trust obligations to tribes for consultation and consent on any development that impacts their lands.
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