The Miccosukee Tribe thought they could sue to block Trump's immigration enforcement and still get $14 million in taxpayer bailouts.
They were dead wrong.
And Donald Trump just sent the Miccosukee Tribe a message they won't forget.
Trump stands firm against special interests who blocked immigration enforcement
President Donald Trump vetoed H.R. 504 on December 29, refusing to reward a tribe that actively sued to obstruct his immigration policies.
The bill would have forced taxpayers to spend up to $14 million to fix flooding problems in an area the Miccosukee Tribe was never authorized to occupy in the first place.
And Trump wasn't about to let that fly.
"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 his veto message to Congress.¹
https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2006153283996381333?s=20
Trump made the right call.
The Tribe joined a lawsuit to shut down Alligator Alcatraz — the immigration detention facility that's removing violent criminal illegal aliens from American communities.
Then they turned around and asked taxpayers to bail them out of a flooding problem they created by building without authorization.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier — who spearheaded the creation of Alligator Alcatraz to take on the immigration crisis — immediately backed Trump's decision.
"President Trump was right to veto HR 504," Uthmeier posted on X. "The Miccosukee Tribe was one of the first groups to sue us over Alligator Alcatraz. They shouldn't expect taxpayers to bail them out as they actively oppose federal and state immigration enforcement operations."²
Uthmeier gets it.
You don't get to obstruct law and order and then stick your hand out for taxpayer dollars.
https://twitter.com/JamesUthmeierFL/status/2006373307671814211?s=20
Tribe partnered with leftist groups to obstruct removal of criminal aliens
The Miccosukee Tribe teamed up with Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity — two radical environmental groups — to file a federal lawsuit in July 2025 trying to shut down Alligator Alcatraz.³
The lawsuit claimed state and federal officials violated environmental laws by building the detention center without years of bureaucratic red tape.
But here's what the lawsuit was really about: stopping Trump from deporting violent criminal illegal aliens.
Alligator Alcatraz was designed to house 4,000 detainees awaiting deportation — gang members, murderers, rapists, and terrorists that the American people voted to remove from this country.
The facility sits in a remote area of the Everglades, making it one of the most secure detention sites in the nation.
Federal Judge Kathleen Williams — an activist judge — sided with the environmental groups in August, issuing an 82-page decision that temporarily halted construction.⁴
But an appellate court overturned that ridiculous decision in September, allowing the critical immigration enforcement facility to continue operating.⁵
Trump didn't forget who tried to block him from keeping Americans safe.
And he made it clear there are consequences for obstructing the will of the American people.
https://twitter.com/KinsaleDrake/status/1953609812337733998?s=20
The bill would have forced taxpayers to fix problems in unauthorized area
H.R. 504 would have expanded federal benefits to Osceola Camp, a village the Tribe built in the 1930s without authorization in a flood-prone area of Everglades National Park.
The Tribe never got permission to build there in the first place.
Now they want taxpayers to bail them out of the flooding problems they created.
The Biden administration developed a plan to fix the unauthorized infrastructure at a cost of up to $14 million — money Trump refused to waste.⁶
"It is not the Federal Government's responsibility to pay to fix problems in an area that the Tribe has never been authorized to occupy," Trump wrote.⁷
He's absolutely right.
The 1998 Miccosukee Reserved Area Act gave the Tribe permanent occupation rights to certain areas within Everglades National Park.
Osceola Camp wasn't included in that authorization.
But the Tribe built there anyway, constructed wastewater treatment and water supply infrastructure in a low-lying flood zone, and now expects taxpayers to fix their mistake.
Representative Giménez argued the bill was about "fairness and conservation" when it passed the House in July.⁸
Trump saw through that excuse.
This was about special interests demanding special treatment while actively working to undermine the immigration enforcement that Americans voted for.
"My Administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding projects for special interests, especially those that are unaligned with my Administration's policy of removing violent criminal illegal aliens from the country," Trump wrote.⁹
Miccosukee Chairman Talbert Cypress claimed the Tribe "never sought to obstruct the president's immigration agenda."
That's a lie and everyone knows it.
The Tribe joined a lawsuit specifically designed to shut down immigration enforcement operations.
You can't have it both ways.
Trump's veto sends exactly the right message: taxpayer dollars don't go to special interests who sue to obstruct immigration enforcement.
This is what draining the swamp looks like.
The Tribe made a choice to partner with radical environmental groups to block the removal of criminal aliens from American communities.
Now they're dealing with the consequences of that decision.
And Attorney General Uthmeier is absolutely right to back Trump's play here.
The presidential veto is supposed to protect taxpayers from wasteful spending on groups that don't align with the will of the American people.
Trump used it exactly as the Founders intended.
Congress could override with a two-thirds vote, but Republicans aren't about to undermine Trump's immigration enforcement agenda to bail out a tribe that sued to stop deportations.
The message is crystal clear: you want federal dollars? Don't sue to block federal immigration enforcement.
¹ Donald J. Trump, "Veto Message," The White House, December 29, 2025.
² James Uthmeier, "Post," X, December 31, 2025.
³ "Miccosukee Tribe joins federal lawsuit to halt Alligator Alcatraz," WPTV, August 4, 2025.
⁴ "Federal Judge Halts Expansion of 'Alligator Alcatraz' Detention Site in Everglades," Native News Online, August 22, 2025.
⁵ "Donald Trump vetoes plan to protect Miccosukee Tribe's Osceola Camp," Florida Politics, December 31, 2025.
⁶ Donald J. Trump, "Veto Message," The White House, December 29, 2025.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ "Donald Trump vetoes plan to protect Miccosukee Tribe's Osceola Camp," Florida Politics, December 31, 2025.
⁹ Donald J. Trump, "Veto Message," The White House, December 29, 2025.
