The Miccosukee Tribe of Florida wants to join a federal lawsuit against ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

By Kate Payne TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is seeking to join a federal lawsuit aimed at halting the construction of a new immigration detention facility in the Everglades, which tribal members consider their sacred ancestral homelands. Miccosukee leaders had already condemned the facility. But the filing Monday of a motion to intervene in the case initially brought by environmental groups signals a new level of opposition by the tribe, which is also a major political donor in the state. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration rapidly built the facility, which state officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” on an isolated, county-owned airstrip inside the Big Cypress National Preserve, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami. The Miccosukee have lived on and cared for…

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