Ron DeSantis sides with Donald Trump in dispute with Miccosukee Tribe

Gov. Ron DeSantis is siding with President Donald Trump when it comes to criticizing the Miccosukee Tribe for fighting Alligator Alcatraz.

While the Governor stopped short of outright support for Trump’s veto of flooding protections for the Osceola Camp in the Everglades, he said the South Florida-based Tribe acted out of line.

“They tried to obstruct. And it was demagogic,” DeSantis said of the Tribe. “They were not being honest about what was going on.”

The Tribe spearheaded a lawsuit last year that resulted in the temporary closure of Alligator Alcatraz, a migrant detention center in the Everglades. Ultimately, an appellate court in September allowed the facility to operate.

Trump cited the fight over the Florida facility when, just before the New Year, he vetoed a bipartisan bill (HR 504) benefiting the Tribe. The legislation would have required the Interior Department to work with the Tribe on measures to safeguard Osceola Camp in South Florida from flooding.

“Despite seeking funding and special treatment from the Federal Government, the Miccosukee Tribe has actively sought to obstruct reasonable immigration policies that the American people decisively voted for when I was elected,” Trump wrote in a veto message.

Miccosukee Tribe Chair Talbert Cypress said the fight against Alligator Alcatraz had nothing to do with Trump’s immigration policies but with the operation of the camp on ancestral lands. In a statement released on Instagram, he said the veto caught the Tribe by surprise.

“The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida has long supported President Trump’s commitment to Everglades restoration, for the benefit of America’s public lands. The late Chairman Billy Cypress, who served for 27 years as the chief executive of our tribe and passed away earlier this year, enjoyed a friendship with President Trump and was an early supporter of his campaign in 2016,” Cypress said.

“The Tribe has a constitutional duty to protect and defend the Everglades ecosystem, our traditional homelands. We have never sought to obstruct the President’s immigration agenda. Instead, we have taken action to ensure sufficient environmental due diligence is performed to protect federal restoration investments. We were disappointed to learn that the White House vetoed a measure intended to mitigate restoration impacts on a Tribal village.”

POLITICO reports that the House may take up an override vote regarding the veto. The legislation was originally sponsored by U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Miami-Dade Republican, and passed through a voice vote before being approved through unanimous consent in the Senate. If two-thirds of members of both chambers vote to undo the veto, the legislation will become law without Trump’s support.

“The Osceola Camp, a historic Miccosukee community within Everglades National Park, faces serious flood and environmental risks. The measure reflected years of bipartisan work and was intended to clarify land status and support basic protections for tribal members who have lived in this area for generations-before the roads and canals were built, and before Everglades National Park was created,” Cypress said.

“It was not about special treatment, but about public safety, environmental stewardship, and honoring long-recognized tribal interests. The Tribe remains fully committed to continuing collaboration with Congress, the Florida delegation and our federal partners to restore the Everglades.”

DeSantis said he had followed the bill closely through the process. He did not say anything about whether the bill should become law, but said Trump’s dispute with the Tribe had merit.

“They were trying to act like the sky was going to fall, and that was wrong. And so what they did was wrong, and it was very disappointing to see them do that,” he said.