TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is racing ahead with construction of a makeshift immigration detention facility at an airstrip in the Everglades over the opposition of Native American leaders who consider the area their sacred ancestral homelands.
A string of portable generators and dump trucks loaded with fill dirt streamed into the site on Thursday, according to activist Jessica Namath, who witnessed the activity. The state is plowing ahead with building a compound of heavy-duty tents, trailers and other temporary buildings at the Miami Dade County-owned airfield located in the Big Cypress National Preserve, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami.
A spokesperson for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is helping lead the project, did not respond to requests for comment.
State officials have characterized the site as an ideal place to hold migrants, saying there’s “not much” there other than pythons and alligators.
Indigenous leaders dispute that and are condemning the state’s plans to build what's been dubbed “ Alligator Alcatraz ” on their homelands. Native Americans can trace their roots to the area back thousands of years.
For generations, the sweeping wetlands of what is now South Florida have been home to Native peoples who today make up the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, as well as the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.
“Rather than Miccosukee homelands being an uninhabited wasteland for alligators and pythons, as some have suggested, the Big Cypress is the Tribe’s traditional homelands. The landscape has protected the Miccosukee and Seminole people for generations,” Miccosukee Chairman Talbert Cypress wrote in a statement on social media.
There are 15 remaining traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages in Big Cypress, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites, Cypress testified before Congress in 2024.
“We live here. Our ancestors fought and died here. They are buried here,” he said. “The Big Cypress is part of us, and we are a part of it.”
Garrett Stuart, who lives about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from the site, described the crystal clear waters, open prairies and lush tree islands of Big Cypress as teeming with life.
“Hearing the arguments of the frogs in the water, you know? And listen to the grunt of the alligator. You’re hearing the call of that osprey flying by and listening to the crows chatting,” he said. “It’s all just incredible.”
Critics have condemned the detention facility and what they call the state's apparent reliance on alligators as a security measure as a cruel spectacle, while DeSantis and other state officials have defended it as part of Florida's muscular efforts to carry out President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
“To have alligators and pythons be the security guards, only someone who’s never spent time in the swamp would ever say something like that,” Stuart said. “They’re afraid of human beings.”
The Florida National Guard is preparing to send up to 100 soldiers to the facility on July 1 to provide site security and staff augmentation, and other support “as directed.”
“We don’t have a set timeline for this mission due to the fluid nature of the situation, but we will stay on the ground for as long as we’re needed and at the direction of Governor DeSantis,” Guard spokesperson Brittianie Funderburk said in a statement.
Tribal leaders and environmentalists are urging the state to change course, noting billions of dollars in state and federal funds have been poured into Everglades restoration in recent years, an investment they say is jeopardized by plans to house some 1,000 migrants at the site for an undetermined amount of time.
Indigenous leaders and activists are planning to gather at the site again on Saturday to stage a demonstration highlighting why the area is “sacred” and should be “protected, not destroyed.”
“This place became our refuge in time of war. It provides us a place to continue our culture and traditions,” Miccosukee leader Betty Osceola wrote in a social media post announcing the demonstration.
“And we need to protect it for our future generations,” she added.
In this image from undated video released by the Office of Attorney General James Uthmeier shows an isolated Everglades airfield about 45 miles (72 kms.) west of Miami that Florida officials said an immigration detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" is just days away from being operational. (Courtesy of the Office of Attorney General James Uthmeier via AP)
In this image from undated video released by the Office of Attorney General James Uthmeier shows an isolated Everglades airfield about 45 miles (72 kms.) west of Miami that Florida officials said an immigration detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" is just days away from being operational. (Courtesy of the Office of Attorney General James Uthmeier via AP)
This image grab from video shows activity at an immigration detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” located at an isolated Everglades airfield. (WSVN via AP)
LONDON (AP) — The British government on Thursday urged FIFA to investigate Argentina's team after players posed with a banner claiming sovereignty over the contested Falkland Islands.
Argentina beat England 2-1 in a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta.
During post-match celebrations, Argentine players held a banner handed over by fans in the stands, reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — “The Malvinas are Argentine.”
Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas. They were invaded in 1982 under orders from Argentina's then-military dictatorship, triggering a 10-week war won by Britain.
U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the players’ behavior was “entirely inappropriate. I expect FIFA to do its investigation thoroughly.”
FIFA can prosecute Argentina's players and soccer federation because its disciplinary code prohibits at stadiums any “message that is not appropriate for a sports event” including those of “a political, ideological, religious or offensive nature.”
The FIFA fines for political messaging are $5,000 to $20,000.
FIFA was approached for comment Thursday.
A FIFA disciplinary case under previous leadership banned a South Korea player for two 2014 World Cup qualifying games because he held up a similar banner about a territorial claim against Japan at the 2012 London Olympics. Park Jong-woo took a fan banner with the slogan “Dokdo is our territory” after South Korea beat Japan in the men's bronze medal game.
On Wednesday, Argentina player Lisandro Martínez was asked if the banner could have stirred deep emotions and tears for a veteran of the Malvinas conflict.
“We couldn’t let the Argentine people down” said Martínez, who has played in England for the past four years with Manchester United.
The sporting rivalry between the two countries is heightened by political tensions over the South Atlantic archipelago. It is a British overseas territory with a population of around 3,500 people located about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) from the U.K. and 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Argentina.
Argentina argues that the islands were illegally taken from it in 1833. Britain, which says its territorial claim dates to 1765, sent a warship to the islands in 1833 to expel Argentine forces who sought to establish sovereignty over the territory.
The war in 1982 killed 649 Argentine troops, 255 British service personnel and three islanders.
That conflict ended during the 1982 World Cup in Spain where Argentina, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all played. British television networks declined to broadcast Argentina playing in the tournament's opening game, when the defending champion lost to Belgium.
“Sadly, it is a sad part of our history," Argentina player Leandro Paredes said in Atlanta about the banner, “for everyone involved in that chapter of, I repeat, our history. And it hurts. We knew we were playing for them, too.”
British government minister Kyle told the BBC "politics needs to be separate from football.”
“In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football," he said. “That is now a matter for FIFA.”
FIFA's statutory political neutrality has been questioned at this World Cup after its president, Gianni Infantino, and disciplinary process — which could now judge Argentina — seemed to cave to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump in allowing United States forward Folarin Balogun to play Belgium in the round of 16.
Balogun was shown a red card in the previous round and FIFA disciplinary rules mandated he should be banned from his team's next game. FIFA deferred that suspension for one year of probation, provoking an all-time controversy in modern World Cup history. Belgium beat the U.S. 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Infantino is expected to sit with Trump and Argentina President Javier Milei, who are political allies, at the World Cup final Sunday. Argentina plays Spain in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Argentina players showed the same “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” slogan at a warmup game in June 2014 in Buenos Aires for the World Cup that started days later in Brazil.
FIFA's disciplinary panel ruling in that case was published after the tournament finished and fined the Argentina federation 30,000 Swiss francs ($37,000).
In the 2012 London Olympics case, FIFA's ruling said the conduct of the South Korea player "cannot be tolerated.”
At the 2022 World Cup, FIFA fined the Serbia federation 20,000 Swiss francs ($24,800) for hanging a political banner about neighboring independent state Kosovo in the locker room before playing Brazil.
It showed a map of Serbia that included the territory of Kosovo, which has been an independent state since 2008, and the slogan “No Surrender.”
Dunbar contributed from Geneva
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
England's Elliot Anderson (8) reacts after Argentina scored a second goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) and England's Harry Kane (9) embrace after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Argentina fans hold a banner with the words "The Malvinas are Argentinian", referring to the Falkland Islands, at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Argentina's Giovani Lo Celso holds a banner with the words "The Malvinas are Argentine", referring to the Falkland Islands, while teammate Argentina's Nicolas Otamendi gestures to him, at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
