A court has ruled in favor of the Miccosukee Tribe that the Trump Administration cannot bring in new inmates and must halt new construction on the ICE prison in the Florida Everglades, which was illegally built on Miccosukee land.
The tribe also filed a temporary restraining order on August 7th to halt further construction until the courts handed down their ruling. “Pretty much the only government-to-government communication we’ve been able to engage with is the courts,” said William “Popeye” Osceola, who is secretary of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida.
The facility would likely close completely because it would not be able to remain open and operational with the new restrictions placed upon it. It’s an important win for tribal rights in the U.S. and huge victory for human rights in FL.
(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)
Perhaps I’m simply jaded but what good does a court victory even provide? Especially one in favor of a native tribe. What exactly is stopping Trump from ignoring the ruling and doing what he wants anyways.
It’s not as if a legal precedent without organized action can physically halt anything, nor is theory a mechanism for punishment/agency to inflict punishment on the administration if they choose to ignore it.
Of course there’s the fact that the US historically betrays every deal it makes with Indigenous people. So from every perspectives this looks like cope to me, unless activists or the local government does something to enforce it.
