Everglades

The remote-controlled “Robobunny” is designed to lure the stealthy Burmese python out of hiding so trappers can pounce. Burmese pythons have been slithering, eating, and reproducing throughout the Everglades since at least 1979.

After last year's storm nearly derailed the event, Everglades City is ready for a triumphant return of the Blessing of the Fleet.

After forced settlement in the region, The Miccosukee were recognized as a sovereign nation by The United States in 1962 and since, generations developed a deep connection with the land.

The battle over “Alligator Alcatraz” came to a head in a Miami-Dade courtroom. Judge Kathleen Williams has granted a temporary restraining order that has stopped any future construction on the site.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was given the chance to tour the controversial Immigration Detention Center in the heart of The Everglades. She has introduced legislation to defund the facility.

In a matter of eight days, The State of Florida took a barely used Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport and transformed it into the Immigration Detention Center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

When reports of inhuman conditions at the Everglades Immigration Detention Center were revealed, Rep. Maxwell Frost was one of several congressional leaders who demanded access to inspect the facility.

DeSantis assured Alligator Alcatraz would have zero impact on the Everglades. However, light pollution and additional construction on the site has led to multiple lawsuits to shut the facility down.

Lawyers seeking a temporary restraining order against an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades say that “Alligator Alcatraz” detainees have been barred from meeting attorneys. They also say that the detainees are being held without any charges and that federal immigration courts have canceled bond hearings. A virtual hearing in federal court in Miami was held Monday over the lawsuit. Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to detainees, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican state officials have defended it as part of the state’s aggressive push to support President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

State and federal lawmakers got a glimpse Saturday inside the controversial and hastily built detention center in the middle of the Everglades. And depending on who you ask, the conditions of the so-called Alligator Alcatraz are comforting like home, or flat out appalling.