The Miccosukee leader is a plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking to shut down the Everglades immigrant detention camp.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: October 10, 2025
Host: Betty Osceola is a member of the Miccosukee Tribe and one of the driving forces behind a lawsuit that could force the State of Florida and the Department of Homeland Security to shut down the immigrant detention camp in the Everglades. Ramon Lopez listened in to a meeting organized by a Sarasota group, to get an update.
Trump and DeSantis, touring the Everglades immigrant detention camp. Photo via Imago/ZUMA Press Wire
Ramon Lopez: On Wednesday, Sarasota’s First Congregational UCC church conducted a Zoom meeting with Betty Oseola, a leader of the Miccosukee Tribe and activist, known for her advocacy to protect the Florida Everglades, her ancestral homeland. As such, she has led numerous prayer walks and environmental awareness campaigns.
A lawsuit was brought on by environmental groups and the Miccosukee tribe, which has traditional use and access to the area, a mostly abandoned airfield located within the wetlands of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
It challenges operation of Alligator Alcatraz, a newly-built immigration detention center there. The plaintiffs say the rushed construction, without public input or an environmental impact statement, violates federal law.
Bright lights, increased traffic and human presence at the site is pushing out the endangered Florida panther and impacting water quality. Also impacted are tribal villages, ceremonial sites and traditional hunting grounds located within a few miles of the lockup. The environmentalists and Native Americans want Alligator Alcatraz axed.
The plaintiffs achieved a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction in their favor. But on September 4, an appeals court ruled against the temporary injunction from a federal judge that had blocked new detentions and ordered much of the facility to be removed. That ruling allows Alligator Alcatraz to remain open, a fact not missed by Betty Osceola, who we hear from.
Betty Osceola. Photo: Lisette Morales
Betty Osceola: There’s a lot of things in addition to the Miccosukee and Seminole people out here that’s being impacted, and everyone else is getting caught up in this. It’s been an ordeal. Some of us are not getting much sleep over it, trying to be monitoring the site—the comings and goings—to be able to provide information for the environmental lawsuits and the immigration lawsuits, because they don’t have the ability to have individuals out here monitoring on their behalf.
RL: At issue is whether Alligator Alcatraz is a state-run or federal facility. Lawyers for Florida and the Trump administration told the court that federal law doesn’t apply because the facility was built and is operated by the state. Deciding who is in charge is key to the lawsuit’s final outcome.
Also involved here is a separate human rights federal lawsuit, says Osceola.
BO: The parties on the immigration lawsuit have appealed, so that has been filed in the appeals court, but that’s not going to be heard until around January, unfortunately. A request was put in to speed it up—to hear that appeal sooner—but the court did not grant that, so we’re having to wait until January to be able to be heard in the court.
RL: Osceola remains optimistic about the outcome of the twin lawsuits.
BO: We need to not give up hope because there is hope and there is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s going to get more bumpy before we get through this, unfortunately. It’s going to be a little bit rough.
RL: Betty Osceola continues to hold her evening prayer vigils just outside the front gate of Alligator Alcatraz. She can be seen streaming live on Facebook with her laptop and a generator.
This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
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