By now you likely know that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wants to build an immigrant detention center — “Alligator Alcatraz” — on the grounds of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. Once upon a time the world’s biggest airport, the “Everglades Jetport,” was supposed to be built on the site, but back in 1970 cooler heads prevailed after a report warned the project could “destroy the South Florida ecosystem and thus the Everglades National Park.”

Cooler heads are NOT prevailing now. Uthmeier — who was appointed by Gov. DeSantis, has never won an election, and who therefore can hardly be said to be acting on behalf of the people of Florida — is moving full speed ahead. Work on the site has reportedly already started; Uthmeier is saying the detention center can be up and running by July. According to news reports, the federal government has a already signed off, but the site is owned by Miami-Dade County. The Florida Division of Emergency Management sent a letter of intent, seeking to purchase the site for $20 million, but Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says it’s worth $190 million.

And needless to say — this being Florida — no environmental assessment has been conducted to determine how building “Alligator Alcatraz” might affect nearby Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park, just six miles away.

What infrastructure, beyond the detention center facility itself, would need to be constructed? What do they plan to do with human waste? What OTHER development would ultimately be authorized right on the doorstep to the Everglades? Light pollution, noise, disturbance to nearby tribal lands, endangered species impacts — there are a million unanswered questions.

Then there’s Uthmeier, who Carl Hiaasen on Facebook called the Governor’s “crown prince of dumb ideas.” Uthmeier was DeSantis’ Chief of Staff last summer when the Governor’s office was pushing plans to develop Florida’s state parks. He served in the same capacity when the Southland rock mine proposal first appeared on the radar screen in 2023, reportedly with support from “the Governor’s office.”

In fact, we wonder if “Alligator Alcatraz” is a misdirection play aimed at distracting rock mine opponents, to give that proposal a better chance to move forward.

But as our friends at Friends of the Everglades have said: No airports. No rock mines. No prisons. Only Everglades.

And you can add your name to the growing list of Floridians demanding Uthmeier and DeSantis scrap this reckless proposal. Do it now — and pass the link along while asking others to do the same.