Florida democrats chomping on 'Alligator Alcatraz', the immigrant detainment center being built in the Florida Everglades. State Senator Shevrin Jones calls it cruel saying, "This has nothing to do with public safety. As a matter of fact, it's a state sponsored cruelty, and history will remember who spoke up."
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says the immigration detention center presents an efficient, low-cost opportunity to house illegal immigrants.
The facility -- being built at a county-owned airstrip in the Big Cypress National Preserve -- is expected to open as soon as Tuesday.
Environmental groups Friday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction and operation of the detention center saying it threatens ecologically sensitive areas and species in the surrounding Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve.
The lawsuit, filed by the group Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, alleges that federal and state agencies have violated laws that, in part, require evaluating potential environmental impacts before such a project can move forward.