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San Francisco Chronicle
10 hours ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump's attack on long-standing principle of birthright citizenship stands, as Supreme Court sidesteps constitutional issue − for now
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Carol Nackenoff, Swarthmore College and Julie Novkov, University at Albany, State University of New York (THE CONVERSATION) One of President Donald Trump's first executive orders relating to immigration and immigrants is a direct attack on the long-standing constitutional principle of birthright citizenship. That's the declaration in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen, regardless of their parents' nationalities or immigration status. Specifically, Trump's order says the federal government will stop issuing federal identification documents such as Social Security cards and passports to infants born in the U.S. unless at least one of their parents is either a U.S. citizen or a 'lawful permanent resident.' So it would deny paperwork to infants born to people who are in the U.S. by other, legal means, such as work, tourist or student visas, as well as to undocumented people. Several states have filed suit to block the move. Federal courts blocked Trump's order from taking effect across the U.S. But on June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court paused these blocks, ruling that the injunctions had to be reviewed to ensure that only the parties specifically named in suits who have standing are receiving relief. The court's ruling will likely trigger a wave of class action lawsuits seeking to extend protective orders to cover larger groups of individuals. But for now, the Trump administration has a green light to begin planning for its implementation of the order in 30 days. The justices did not rule on whether ending birthright citizenship is constitutional. This first step down a path to deny citizenship to some individuals born in the United States reflects a conflict that's been going on for nearly 200 years: who gets to be an American citizen. Debates in American history over who gets citizenship and what kind of citizenship they get have always involved questions of race and ethnicity, as we have learned through our individual research on the historical status of Native Americans and African Americans and joint research on restricting Chinese immigration. Nonetheless, even in the highly racialized political environment of the late 19th century, the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed an expansive view of birthright citizenship. In an 1898 ruling, the court decreed that the U.S.-born children of immigrants were citizens, regardless of their parents' ancestry. That decision set the terms for the current controversy, as various Republican leaders, U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, as well as Vice President JD Vance, have claimed that they will possess the power to overturn more than a century of federal constitutional law and policy and deny birthright citizenship. Citizenship by birth Most citizens of the U.S. are born, not made. Before the Civil War, the U.S. had generally followed the English practice of granting citizenship to children born in the country. In 1857, though, the Supreme Court decided the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, with Chief Justice Roger Taney declaring that people of African descent living in the U.S. – whether free or enslaved, and regardless of where they were born – were not actually U.S. citizens. After the Civil War, Congress explicitly rejected the Dred Scott decision, first by passing legislation reversing the ruling and then by writing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which specified that ' [a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.' This broad language intentionally included more than just the people who had been freed from slavery at the end of the Civil War: During legislative debate, members of Congress decided that the amendment should cover the children of other nonwhite groups, such as Chinese immigrants and those identified at the time as 'Gypsies.' Still barring some people from citizenship This inclusive view of citizenship, however, still had an area judges hadn't made clear yet – the phrase 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof.' In 1884, the Supreme Court had to interpret those words when deciding the case of a Native American who wanted to be a citizen, had renounced his tribal membership and attempted to register to vote. The justices ruled that even though John Elk had been born in the U.S., he was born on a reservation as a member of a Native American tribe and was therefore subject to the tribe's jurisdiction at his birth – not that of the United States. He was, they ruled, not a citizen. The text of the 14th Amendment also became an issue in the late 19th century, when Congress and the Supreme Court were deciding how to handle immigrants from China. An 1882 law had barred Chinese immigrants living in the U.S. from becoming naturalized citizens. A California circuit court, however, ruled in 1884 that those immigrants' U.S.-born children were citizens. In 1898, the Supreme Court took up the question in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, ultimately ruling that children born in the U.S. were, in the 14th Amendment's terms, 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States, so long as their parents were not serving in some official capacity as representatives of a foreign government and not part of an invading army. Those children were U.S. citizens at birth. This ruling occurred near the peak of anti-Chinese sentiment that had led Congress to endorse the idea that immigration itself could be illegal. In earlier rulings, the court had affirmed broad powers for Congress to manage immigration and control immigrants. Yet in the Wong Kim Ark ruling, the court did not mention any distinction between the children of legal immigrants and residents and the children of people who were in the United States without appropriate documentation. All people born in the United States were automatically simply citizens. Since the Wong Kim Ark ruling, birthright citizenship rules haven't changed much – but they have remained no less contentious. In 1900 and 1904, leaders of several Pacific islands that make up what is now American Samoa signed treaties granting the U.S. full powers and authority to govern them. These agreements, however, did not grant American Samoans citizenship. A 1952 federal law and State Department policy designates them as ' non-citizen nationals,' which means they can freely live and work in the U.S. but cannot vote in state and federal elections. In 2018, several plaintiffs from American Samoa sued to be recognized as U.S. citizens, covered by the 14th Amendment's provision that they were born 'within' the U.S. and therefore citizens. The district court found for the plaintiffs, but the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, ruling that Congress would have to act to extend citizenship to territorial residents. A new debate has ignited over whether Congress has the power to alter birthright citizenship, and even over whether the president, either through an executive order or through directing the State Department not to recognize some individuals as citizens, can change the boundaries around who gets to be a citizen. Efforts to alter birthright citizenship have already provoked legal challenges. Trump is just the latest in a long line of politicians who have objected to the fact that Latin American immigrants who come to the U.S. without legal permission can have babies who are U.S. citizens. Most legal scholars, even those who are quite conservative, see little merit in claims that the established rules can be altered. At least until now, the courts have continued to uphold the centuries-long history of birthright citizenship, dating back to before the Constitution itself and early American court rulings. The question seems likely to reach the Supreme Court again, with the fundamental principle hanging in the balance. This article, which includes material previously published on Jan. 15, 2020, was updated to include the June 27, 2025, U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
San Francisco Chronicle
10 hours ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Environmental groups sue to block migrant detention center rising in Florida Everglades
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Friday to block a migrant detention center dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' now being built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades. The lawsuit seeks to halt the project until it undergoes a stringent environmental review as required by federal and state law. There is also supposed to be a chance for public comment, according to the lawsuit filed in Miami federal court. Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands, while Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials have defended it as part of the state's aggressive push to support President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. The center is set to begin processing people who entered the U.S. illegally as soon as next week, DeSantis said Friday on 'Fox and Friends.' 'The state of Florida is all in on President Trump's mission,' DeSantis said on a tour of the facility. 'There needs to be more ability to intake, process and deport.' 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 in the Big Cypress National Preserve, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami. The state Republican Party has even begun selling T-shirts and other merchandise emblazoned with the 'Alligator Alcatraz' slogan. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity as well as the Friends of the Everglades, an organization started decades ago by 'River of Grass' author and Everglades champion Marjory Stoneman Douglas to battle the original plan to build the airport. They are represented by the Earthjustice law firm and other attorneys including Florida writer Carl Hiaasen's son, Scott Hiaasen. 'This site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by the Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species,' said Eve Samples, Friends of the Everglades executive director, in a news release. 'This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.' The lawsuit names several federal and state agencies as defendants, including the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. DeSantis's spokesman said they will oppose the lawsuit in court. 'Governor Ron DeSantis has insisted that Florida will be a force multiplier for federal immigration enforcement, and this facility is a necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a pre-existing airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment," said spokesman Bryan Griffin in an email. "We look forward to litigating this case.' A protest led by Native Americans who consider the land sacred is planned near the site on Saturday. There are 15 remaining traditional Miccosukee and Seminole tribal villages in Big Cypress, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites. ___ ___
National Geographic
11 hours ago
- General
- National Geographic
Take a mouthwatering trip down Alabama's Barbecue Trail
Texas has brisket, Memphis has ribs. The Carolinas enjoy their pulled pork, and Kansas City is all about the sauce game. But not many immediately associate barbecue with Alabama Well, except for one thing—the mayonnaise-y white sauce. While the state's polarizing contribution to the American barbecue consciousness celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, there's much more to the state's barbecue than white sauce, and many Alabamians would proudly put their barbecue among the best in the country. With a mouthwatering Alabama Barbecue Trail—from civil rights hot spots to 100-year-old joints—there's no better way to uncover Alabama's unique cuisine and history than biting into it. The origins of Alabama barbecue Barbecue borrows the cooking methods of Native Americans, meats and sauces of European immigrants, and the labor (meaning recipes and know-how) of Africans to create a taste that is perhaps singularly American. In Alabama, barbecue—as a food, social gathering, and style of cookery—has been an essential part of life and society for ages. Barbecues were not only used for celebrations and commemorations, they were also so intertwined in political processes that the state government tried banning them altogether in the 1800s. But Alabama barbecue as we know it today didn't come into its own until the late 1800s with the rise of the interstate, and joints started sprouting up along major highway routes between Southern cities. While barbecue in neighboring states developed identities that captivated Americans, Alabama barbecue hasn't really caught on in the national psyche. 'I think not being recognized as one of the barbecue regions like Kansas City, Texas, Memphis, and the Carolinas has maybe ruffled some feathers,' says Mark Johnson, author of An Irresistible History of Alabama Barbecue. 'There's a sense of pride here. Alabamians will defend their barbecue against anyone else's.' So, what is Alabama barbecue? 'Alabamians don't even agree on what barbecue is,' says Johnson. 'Chicken and white sauce is the specialty of North Alabama, Decatur, and Huntsville. Birmingham is very much dominated by pulled pork with a tomato-based sauce. And then in Tuscaloosa, it's by far ribs with a vinegar-forward sauce that's got some kick to it. When you get closer to the Georgia border, you start seeing the South Carolina mustards creeping in.' (6 barbecue styles, from Alabama white sauce to Memphis pork ribs) The rise of white sauce Inextricably linked to Alabamians' appetites like apple pie to the broader U.S., Alabama's white sauce is a concoction of bubbling hot mayonnaise mixed with a hefty dose of vinegar and black pepper. The creation is the brainchild of a railway worker turned pitmaster named 'Big Bob' Gibson, who, back in the day, soaked his pit-cooked chickens in this barbecue sauce to prevent them from drying out. Now celebrating its 100-year-anniversary, Big Bob's namesake sauce and restaurant in Decatur is a juggernaut on the world barbecue circuit, with walls covered in plaques denoting it the 'World's Best Barbecue.' As for the polarizing sauce, it has earned homages across Alabama and the world. Back in the pit, Andrew Lilly, the great-great grandchild of Gibson and current manager of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, forks a whole bird off the brick pit and dunks it in the white sauce before tossing it back on the grill. 'It keeps the chicken moist and just gives it that good tangy peppery flavor,' says Lilly. 'You just don't get that any other way.' White sauce is the brainchild of a railway worker turned pitmaster named 'Big Bob' Gibson. Photograph by Jeffrey Greenberg, Universal(Top) (Left) and Photograph by JFsPic, Getty Images (Bottom) (Right) In total, he'll cook this first batch of 75 chickens slowly for three-to-four hours. By roughly 11 a.m., when he pulls them off the pit, the restaurant is full of ravenous diners. Although, not everybody is a fan. White sauce may reign supreme in barbecue joints across Northern Alabama, but head south and many will disavow the sauce entirely. Love it or hate it, barbecue chicken and white sauce is part of the state's culinary identity. Barbecue and the civil rights movement 'Get the pig ears,' says Larry Bethune. 'We sell a lot of 'em… we sell a lot of everything, really.' Bethune is the second-generation owner of Brenda's Bar-Be-Que Pit in Montgomery. Brenda's has been a staple in the city's Black community since its opening in 1942, serving up everything from the famous pig ear sandwiches to legendary ribs and chicken platters at its drive-up counter. What Brenda's may lack in square footage, it more than makes up for in flavor and Black history. On the restaurant's window is a newspaper clipping of Larry's mother, Jereline Bethune, at the March of Montgomery. He starts singing, 'We Shall Overcome' and recollects his mother's role during the civil rights movement. She became involved during the 1955 and 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott and worked with the NAACP, printing out fliers about when and where meetings and protests would occur. Following the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Jereline would host classes at the restaurant to help Black people pass literacy tests so they could vote. The pig ear sandwich arrives slippery, cartilaginous, soaked in ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce. Like the restaurant's history, it may not look pretty, but it's a taste to be savored. The story is similar at the opposite end of the state's historic National Civil Rights Trail in Selma at Lannie's Bar-B-Q Spot. Back in the '60s, Lannie's was a popular hub where activists like Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, and Ralph Abernathy could commiserate and devour hickory-smoked pork shoulder, ribs, and the whole fixings. Today, Lannie's is still run by the family, and, although the dirt floors are gone, they're still slinging the same dishes that have brought the city of Selma together for 80-odd years. Deborah's brother Floyd sets down a mountainous pulled pork sandwich and a few pork ribs all coated in Lannie's famous barbecue sauce. One bite, and that tangy, vinegary, spicy sauce envelopes the tongue and cheeks. Suddenly, it's easy to understand why the community (and state) continues lining up to eat here. (The symbolism behind traditional Juneteenth foods—from barbecue to hibiscus) Continuing legacies Ultimately, the story of Alabama barbecue is also a story about family, community, and togetherness. Andrew Lilly is building upon his great-great grandfather's legacy at Big Bob Gibson's. Larry Bethune continues plating the ribs and pig ear sandwiches his mother did at Brenda's. Historic joints like Lannie's in Selma, Archibald & Woodrow's Barbeque in Northport, and Top Hat in Blount Springs are all in their third generation (and beyond) of ownership, and each owner can rattle off the list of regulars they've been feeding nearly every week for decades. At Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q in Bessemer, Van Sykes is honoring the foundation his father and mother, Bob and Maxine, laid at the family restaurant in 1957 by keeping things simple—almost alarmingly simple considering the restaurant's barbecue sandwich sits atop the pantheon of must-eat dishes in Alabama. 'It's just salt, meat, and fire,' says Sykes. But he finds giving back to the broader Birmingham community just as important as the world-class barbecue he's cooking. He shares his craft in local high school home-economics classes. You'll see him offering cooking advice on the local news and promoting Southern food and culture as a founding member of the revered Southern Food Alliance. 'Barbecue cuts through class, race, gender, history, everything,' says Sykes. 'It shakes a common table for everybody." Each spring, Sykes brings his community in Bessemer together for a little barbecue and blues at the Bob Sykes Barbecue and Blues Festival. 'I look out at the crowd and see my customers,' he says. 'You'll find everything from Porsches to pick-up trucks, Blacks and whites. It sets a common table around the things we love and come together over, which is our love of food, music, and the blues. It's peanut butter. The togetherness is a sentiment echoed by Deborah Hatcher at Lannie's Bar-B-Q Spot. During the tumultuous civil rights movement in Selma, Black and white customers at Lannie's dined together. 'We didn't have segregation here,' says Deborah Hatcher, granddaughter of founder Lannie Moore Travis. 'Everybody came in that one door. Everyone sat down together, mixed together, and ate barbecue. Everybody just having a good time.' Where to try Alabama barbecue Archibald & Woodrow's Barbeque: Popular among University of Alabama students and Tuscaloosa crowds, Archibald's ribs have become a true culinary destination in the state. Cooked over hickory and until they develop a wonderfully crisp 'bark,' the ribs and spicy vinegar sauce are the perfect pre-game or post-game meal during Crimson Tide football season. Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q: What started out as a backyard pit has turned into one of the best barbecue joints in the country. Big Bob Gibson's may specialize in the famed pit-cooked chicken and white sauce, but don't miss out on the sublime ribs, 'championship' red barbecue sauce, and, of course, the meringue pies. Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q: Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q keeps things simple: Salt, meat, and fire. Their specialty is the pulled pork sandwich and barbecue sauce (the recipe for which took nearly 20 years for Bob to develop). Brenda's Bar-Be-Que Pit: It may be just a countertop joint in a residential Montgomery neighborhood, but locals are consistently lining up to engorge on Brenda's seriously good barbecue, from the pig ear sandwiches to towering rib plates. Saw's BBQ: A staple in the Birmingham barbecue circuit, Saw's serves up every iteration of Alabama barbecue and each location follows a special theme. No matter where you go, the low-and-slow-cooked ribs are divinely tender and the chicken and white sauce is loaded with puckering tang. Born in Detroit and displaced all over, Tom Burson is a travel, food, and culture writer and professional lollygagger. His writing is rooted in uncovering the quirky, not-so-talked-about nooks and crannies and traditions around the world. Follow along at @tommyburson
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislative group studies SD's high incarceration rate, overrepresentation of Indigenous prisoners
Linsey Sapp, who wears an "Inmate Rights" shirt and whose husband is incarcerated, speaks to lawmakers at an Initial Incarceration, Reentry Analysis, and Comparison of Relevant States Interim Committee meeting in Sioux Falls on June 24, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) SIOUX FALLS — The overrepresentation of Native Americans in state prisons, a lack of rehabilitation programming, and a need for more intervention to keep people out of prison are the biggest issues flagged by members of South Dakota's legislative recidivism and rehabilitation committee. The group held its first meeting Tuesday at the University of South Dakota's Sioux Falls campus. The committee is tasked with analyzing the makeup of the prison population, comparing incarceration rates and sentencing laws in similar states, and identifying barriers to inmates' reintegration into society. South Dakota has the nation's 15th-highest incarceration rate, according to The Sentencing Project. Forty-three percent of adult offenders in South Dakota return to prison within three years of release, according to 2023 statistics from the state Department of Corrections. Some lawmakers who voted in February against funding to build an $825 million men's prison said the state should be investing more into rehabilitation programs to reduce its prison population. Lawmakers on the recidivism and rehabilitation committee may propose bills and funding recommendations during the next legislative session. Some members of the committee also sit on the governor's Project Prison Reset committee, which is searching for a location to build a new prison at a cost up to $600 million. Mitchell Republican Rep. Jeff Bathke is the former director of substance abuse programs for the state Department of Corrections and a member of the recidivism and rehabilitation committee. He hopes the group will dig further into rehabilitation and behavioral health programming to understand existing programs and their efficacy. 'Right now, we're just a warehouse. We warehouse people,' Bathke told South Dakota Searchlight after the meeting. 'Then they come back because we did nothing as a community to help them.' The first meeting supported his belief that the state should hire a consultant to better evaluate the prison system and make recommendations to policy and programming. The state has hired a consultant to study prison construction needs, and that consultant said strict sentencing laws are among the factors driving prison population growth. 'This is a severely damaged system,' Bathke said. 'But it can be great. It can be the best program in the nation, with some changes.' Native Americans account for nearly 40% of the state's prison inmates. They account for about 9% of the state's overall population, according to a presentation from the Legislative Research Council. That statistic is 'alarming,' said Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, during the meeting. Sioux Falls Republican Rep. Greg Jamison, who co-chairs the committee, told lawmakers he believes the overrepresentation is one of the 'biggest issues' facing the committee. The disparity of Native Americans in the prison system has persisted for decades. Bathke added that offenders sentenced in federal court after crimes on tribal land aren't accounted for in the state data. 'It is way worse than what these numbers actually show,' Bathke said. South Dakota's disparity is higher than similar states analyzed by the committee: Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. Legislative staff compared the states' prison populations because they share economic and demographic similarities. Jamison said he hopes to connect with tribal leaders this summer to hear their suggestions for addressing the problem. South Dakota also has the third highest female incarceration rate in the nation, according to The Sentencing Project. Nearly two-thirds of incarcerated women in the state are Native American, and about half of their worst offenses are drug-related. North Dakota has the lowest prison population in the four-state comparison presented to the committee, at under 2,000 inmates, along with the lowest incarceration rate and lowest female incarceration rate. 'We're going to have to dig into North Dakota a bit,' Jamison said. Several lawmakers and members of the public raised concerns about rehabilitation programming — both the quality of programs and the number of programs available to inmates. A Department of Corrections employee was not on hand to answer lawmaker questions. Leaders of a company that trained and employed maximum security inmates at the state penitentiary for two decades said they were pushed out of the prison system by administrators last year, although administrators said the company left voluntarily to avoid adhering to newer, stricter security protocols. Gov. Larry Rhoden announced this week his administration will use economic development dollars from the state's Future Fund to start a diesel mechanic training program in the metal shop's former space. Linsey Sapp, whose husband is incarcerated, told lawmakers during public comment that the lack of classes and programming is a serious concern, especially if inmates are spending '23 hours a day' in their cells. 'Rehabilitation is important, and we are failing,' she said. Tracii Barse, a Native American business owner who introduced himself as a seven-time felon to lawmakers, said mentorship during and after a prison sentence is necessary to successfully reintegrate inmates into society. He suggested policy changes to allow ex-inmates to come into the prison to teach classes or mentor current inmates. While there are several volunteers who mentor, former prisoners better understand inmates' history and challenges, he said. Barse finds it ironic that he's allowed to enter a school to mentor children, despite his background, but he can't use that same experience and connection to help inmates. Sen. Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule, encouraged lawmakers on the committee to explore the path that leads a person to prison and reasons why people reoffend. In better understanding those areas, the state can intervene, deter and help people while they're in their home, she added. Doing so would be cheaper, healthier, and keep a community intact — especially given the number of Native Americans removed from their communities due to incarceration, Grove said. Grove, along with Sen. Kevin Jensen, R-Canton, discussed the possibility of removing a person's felony conviction from their record for certain crimes after an amount of time or after rehabilitation, to help with reintegration and recidivism. Felons are not allowed to live in certain neighborhoods, can't have some jobs and can't own a gun. 'I think, at some point, it has to be where the person has paid for their crime and they move back to wholeness in whatever way that looks,' Grove said. 'I think that's a really big part of re-entry.' The committee's next meeting will be held in July in the Rapid City area. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
DW
a day ago
- Politics
- DW
Florida builds 'Alligator Alcatraz' despite protest – DW – 06/27/2025
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced a plan to build an immigrant detention center in the heart of the Everglades. Native Americans are furious at the desecration of their ancestral lands. The state of Florida is not responding to requests for comment as activists report construction activity at an abandoned Everglades airstrip at Big Cypress National Preserve, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Miami. The construction is part of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' plan to build a detention facility to house immigrants in tents as part of a larger Trump administration push to rid the country of "criminal aliens." De Santis and his state attorney general, James Uthmeier, have billed the site, which will house up to 1,000 people in tents, as "Alligator Alcatraz" — a play on the local fauna and a reference to the infamous San Francisco Bay facility that US President Donald Trump seeks to revert from national park to prison. Uthmeier and his team produced a video pitching the Florida project on X, referencing the fact that there's "not much" nearby other than "alligators and pythons." On Thursday, Uthmeier said the facility, which is being built with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds, would be completed in 30 to 60 days. Annual operating costs are currently projected to be about $450 million (€387 million). De Santis' plan to use hurricane relief funds to build the site has infuriated some. Former Homeland Security Secretary Alex Howard, for instance, blasted the plan, calling it "a grotesque mix of cruelty and political theater." Howard said, "You don't solve immigration by disappearing people into tents guarded by gators." "You solve it with lawful processing, humane infrastructure and actual policy — not by staging a $450 million stunt in the middle of hurricane season," he added. Beyond the questionable redirection of emergency funding and grave concerns over the potential environmental impact of the project on its fragile surroundings, Natives in Florida are also up in arms over the governor's scheme. The area where the facility is to be built was the home of 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 on social media. "The Big Cypress is part of us," he said, "and we are a part of it." Another Miccosukee leader, Betty Osceola, wrote in a social media post announcing a demonstration against the site on Saturday: "This place became our refuge in time of war. It provides us a place to continue our culture and traditions. And we need to protect it for our future generations." Some 15 traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages remain in Big Cypress, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites. Locals say the area is "sacred" and that it should be "protected, not destroyed." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
