A coalition of groups, ranging from environmental activists to Native Americans advocating for their ancestral homelands, converged outside an airstrip in the Florida Everglades Saturday to protest the imminent construction of an immigrant detention center.

Florida is set to open a controversial immigration detention hub, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," near the Everglades, raising environmental and human rights concerns. The facility, funded by a massive federal allocation,

Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that the temporary detention center being constructed at an isolated Everglades airfield will have “zero impact” on Everglades restoration, rebuking concerns by environmental advocates and local officials who say the project threatens drinking water and protected land.