June 29 (UPI) — Several hundred demonstrators protested plans for an immigration detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” that is being constructed on an abandoned airstrip in Florida’s Everglades.
The protest, which was organized by the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Everglades, drew environmental activists, indigenous groups and immigration advocates on Saturday.
NO ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ. Send a message NOW to @GovRonDeSantis and @AGJamesUthmeierhttps://t.co/8tLilPcRCdpic.twitter.com/jAqUabwkW0— Friends of the Everglades (@FoEverglades) June 23, 2025
They went to the edge of the Tamiami Trail, which is near the site for the mobile units being constructed on the border between Collier County and Miami-Dade County. Alligator Alligator Alley, which is part of Interstate 75, runs 80 miles across the state through the Everglades.
During the protest, trucks carried building materials, industrial lights, generators and portable toilets for an initial 1,000 beds when it opens, and ultimately 3,000…