Virtue signaling smells worse than the swamp

Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

They broke into our country. Illegally. Defiantly. With no regard for our borders, our laws, or our sovereignty. And now, astonishingly, they want a soft landing in the middle of our hospitality industry. Cue the crocodile tears from the activist class, who are in full meltdown over what they’re calling “Alligator Alcatraz”—a no-nonsense immigration detention center planted right in the Florida Everglades.

Let’s cut through the swamp gas: these aren’t tourists. These aren’t asylum-seekers from World War II. These are illegal immigrants—people who deliberately crossed into the United States without permission, without papers, and without regard for the rule of law. And now the left would have us believe that housing them in a remote, secure facility—built on an airstrip, no less—is somehow a human rights violation? Spare me.

The same activists who lecture Americans about “decolonizing the land” have suddenly become experts in federal construction codes, NEPA regulations, and wetland preservation. All in a desperate attempt to shut down a facility whose sole purpose is to enforce the one thing they loathe more than walls: national borders.

Let’s be clear. No one’s bulldozing virgin wilderness. The site in question is a decades-old airstrip, already developed, already operational. No manatees were harmed in the making of this facility. But apparently the left is more concerned about marshland than the American children trafficked through the same broken border system their policies have enabled.

The detention center is already up and running. Flights are ready. The infrastructure is there. This isn’t an environmental issue. It’s a logistical solution—and a brilliant one. Remote location? Check. Existing runway? Check. Far from urban centers where activist lawyers would clog the courts? Perfect. The only thing better would be if it came with a one-way launchpad.

And now a judge—U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams—decides to hit pause. Because the Everglades might be sad. Never mind that this is about enforcing federal law. Never mind that this building was already standing on a site approved for aviation use. Never mind that Americans overwhelmingly want the border secured. Judge Williams has decided that the emotional needs of swamp moss now outweigh the will of the American people.

And right on cue, the Miccosukee Tribe has been wheeled out to claim cultural and environmental victimhood. Where were they when developers paved half of south Florida to build luxury condos, shopping malls, and golf resorts? Funny how the outrage always comes after the migrants move in, never after the money does.

This isn’t about the environment. It’s about optics. It’s about power. It’s about the open-borders lobby losing its mind over the fact that Florida dared to enforce immigration law without asking Washington for permission. And it’s about the judicial class, who never miss an opportunity to side with illegal aliens over the American citizenry.

The Constitution does not grant citizenship rights to foreign nationals who invade our country. There is no constitutional guarantee of free legal counsel, yoga mats, or bond hearings for people who break into the United States and stay illegally. But that hasn’t stopped civil rights groups from filing a second lawsuit claiming that detainees are being “denied their rights” by being held without charges. What charges? They’re not in the criminal system—they’re in the deportation process. That’s not injustice. That’s how immigration enforcement works.

What’s truly unjust is how long Americans have been told to sit down, shut up, and open their wallets while illegal immigrants jump the line, drain public resources, and get treated like victims when held accountable. What’s unjust is judges halting deportation infrastructure while fentanyl floods over the border and kills our sons and daughters.

Florida is doing what the federal government won’t. Governor Ron DeSantis has built a streamlined, efficient, legal detention solution that gets illegal aliens off the streets and onto planes—no drama, no chaos, no apology. And the left can’t stand it. Because it works.

Call it Alligator Alcatraz if you want. Just don’t pretend it’s the wetlands you’re worried about. The only thing endangered here is the left’s fantasy of a borderless America.

And for that, Florida deserves a standing ovation.

Maureen Steele is co-founder of the American Made Foundation is an organization that connects influential leaders and grassroots movements to drive real change.

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