Free Republic

Environmental groups Friday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction and operation of a detention center for undocumented immigrants that has been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” saying it threatens ecologically sensitive areas and species in the surrounding Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve. The lawsuit, filed by the group Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, alleges that federal and state agencies have violated laws that, in part, require evaluating potential environmental impacts before such a project can move forward. “The hasty transformation of the site into a mass detention facility, which includes the installation of housing...

“Bernhardt got this nomination as a reward for months of work cramming America’s natural heritage into a wood chipper,” Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “He’s already done more damage to our environment than anyone else in Interior Department history. Confirming him as Interior secretary would be a boon to polluters and a colossal disaster for our public lands and endangered species.” Center for Western Priorities' Executive Director Jennifer Rokala called Bernhardt's nomination "an affront to America's parks and public lands." "As an oil and gas lobbyist, Bernhardt pushed to open...