Florida’s illegal immigration detention center is a constitutional nightmare | Opinion
In the heart of the Everglades — sacred ground for Native American tribes and ecological treasures — Gov. Ron DeSantis has carved something unthinkable: an unregulated and patently unconstitutional detention center for immigrants.
Republicans have mockingly dubbed it Alligator Alcatraz, evoking racist nostalgia for the 1950s treatment of Black Americans dumped in Miami swamps. This grotesque history now repeats.
This swamp prison is not a federal facility run by ICE, but a state-run black non-site imprisoning people for political theater with $500 million of Florida taxpayer money annually. Though described by Florida’s attorney general as a “low-cost, temporary detention facility,” the truth is far more sinister.
Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Florida has no legal authority to detain immigrants simply for being undocumented unless that person is also charged with a state crime or subject to a federal detainer. Even then, a judicial hearing must be held within 48 hours to determine probable cause for arrest. This is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.
Yet those imprisoned in this Everglades camp hellhole — many with no criminal record — are held indefinitely without charges, hearings or meaningful access to legal counsel. That is not immigration enforcement; this is state-sponsored kidnapping.
In holding immigrants as political pawns, DeSantis’ message is clear: cruelty is intended. The suffering and neglect should horrify every American.
The facility floods routinely. Toilets often don’t flush. The food is scarce, often a sandwich. Medical care is nonexistent.
This is not a detention facility. It is a constitutional crime scene.
There is no space for attorney-client meetings. Lawyers are turned away or forced to communicate through fences and chain-link barriers — in plain violation of the Fifth Amendment right to counsel. The state of Florida ignores these protections and in response activists have begun filing suit.
Moreover, the Everglades — home to endangered species and a UNESCO World Heritage site — is environmentally and culturally desecrated.
The Miccosukee and Seminole peoples, who have lived in harmony with their sacred land for centuries, now fight back — suing to block the project because it violates environmental law and their sovereign treaty rights. One lawsuit this week prompted a temporary stop to construction at the camp.
But DeSantis has bulldozed ahead, prioritizing ideology over ecology and cruelty over conservation. Even ICE — not known for its compassion — has distanced itself from this disaster, confirming that this is not a federal facility. If that is true, then ICE has no legal oversight, and detention is occurring outside any authorized federal immigration process. Thus, those imprisoned here are held solely by the state of Florida, which cannot incarcerate people who have not committed a state crime.
This is not a gray area but a flashing red alert. The Constitution allows only the federal government to detain for immigration enforcement, and even then, only within the bounds of due process. Even if Florida claims to hold undocumented immigrants on ICE’s behalf, it is in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment.
This is the time for bold legal action. Every person detained is entitled to immediate release or a judicial hearing. Lawyers should file habeas corpus petitions in federal court now. Civil rights lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 should be brought against every Florida official responsible. The Justice department should open a civil rights investigation. Congress must hold hearings.
And if this facility is allowed to stand — if the courts do not act, if the public does not resist — then it will not be the last. The architecture of tyranny is modular.
This is not just about immigration; this is a moral disgrace, an environmental catastrophe, a violation of tribal sovereignty and a constitutional abomination. It must be shut down.
The Constitution applies everywhere — even in the Everglades. Justice cannot be confined by geography or politics.
If you or someone you know is detained in this facility, fight back with every legal tool available. Our democracy depends on standing up to unlawful detention and demanding accountabilitybefore more lives are needlessly destroyed in this swamp of injustice.
Irwin P. Stotzky is a professor at the University of Miami School of Law. The views expressed here are solely the author’s and not that of the university.
