Hope and Despair in South Florida: Week ending October 24, 2025
On Friday, the Miami New Times, the paper of record for South Florida's weird, unusual and trendsetting (whether most locals want these trends or not– all of those links are NSFW, BTW, this one about Miami having the worst phone etiquette is not), ran a story I didn't see elsewhere about ICE planning a major raid in South Florida this weekend.
Naomi Feinstein
One might think with this newsletter's focus on things like ICE, Alligator Alcatraz, and the environment that this would be a "liberal" or "progressive" newsletter. I actually dislike both terms and don't think any definition of them (and there are many for both) suits me personally and certainly not the intent of this weekly post.
To be honest, in one way, this newsletter was started for my mother and mother-in-law so I could relay what's going on here in Florida to them in the Central Valley of California. But in another, I've come to realize, after months of reflection, its about community.
I don't like ICE because it is a threat to my neighbors, the places I shop, the amazing variety of food and grocery stores here in Miami-Dade County and people's overall comfort level just being in our great county.
I don't like Alligator Alcatraz because people I know and rely on as part of this community are in there and because US 41 aka Tamiami Trail aka Calle Ocho is one of the most unusual, vibrant, eclectic, amazing and beautiful places in the country if not the world. From its starting point in Little Havana near Downtown Miami to its run through the great slough (slow, low, river full of grass), through the astounding bald cypress forests, to the wetlands near Naples and so on all the way to Tampa, it is a place of wonder that is cheapened and desecrated by the pollution spilling, sky brightening, panther threatening, sacred land defiling, human torture facility, racist meme that is Alligator Alcatraz.
And it is ours. It belongs to South Florida. It belongs to America. It belongs to the world. It is a part of our community.
So, let's talk about community some more this week.
Table of Contents
Finite
Disappointment
Alligator Alcatraz is still open, ICE is gearing up for a major raid in South Florida, the Miami Half Marathon is getting poured on (while my wife runs it), and Miami's housing bubble is the biggest (worst/riskiest) in the world...again...just like it was in 1925 when it helped cause the Great Depression and 2008 when it helped cause the Great Recession.
On a personal note Bear is still recovering from doggie pneumonia. He's doing better, Mom, but still getting antibiotics and the nebulizer twice a day.
Also, two more species of coral– a species that is pretty to look at, but crucially, provides protections from things like tsunamis and hurricane storm surges, are extinct in Florida.
All of these things are ill tidings for our vibrant community. But we've persisted before. We've recovered before. We can do it again. If we stand together.
Florida
Gonna Florida
"Dumbass"speared a crocodile. This is dumb for many reasons, not to mention it being a state and Federal felony.
Historic
Interlude
October 20, 1945
The Miami Herald ran a front page story about a successful coup d'état in Venezuela on October 18, 1945, alongside a story about Nazis being tried for what we now call war crimes (based on the Fourth Geneva Convention held in 1949). The trials of the Nazis in Nuremberg (the paper appears to have misspelled it or used a no longer used spelling) would of course become known as the Nuremberg Trials (this site is in German– you'll need to use your browser translator).
Florida, especially South Florida, has been an immigrant and refugee destination from all over the Americas for the last 100 years or so and Venezuela is no exception. Still, despite major unrest in 1945 in Venezuela that ended a decade of dictatorship (the gomecista dictatorship), and frequent periods of unrest for the second half of the 20th century in the oil rich country, the Venezuelan expatriate population in the United States was only 33,000 in 1980. By 2023, thanks to the Chavez and Maduro competitive autocratic regimes causing millions to flee, the Venezuelan population in South Florida alone topped 174,000.
Indeed, it is hard to imagine the South Florida community today without the sizeable impact of our Venezuelan neighbors. Economically, losing these neighbors would have similar impacts to the local economy that a housing bubble burst would have: read, it'd be a catastrophe.
Infinite
Hope
I mentioned in the Finite Disappointment section that ICE appears to be planning a major raid, Alligator Alcatraz is still open, the Miami Half Marathon got poured on and the Miami housing market is the biggest, most dangerous, housing bubble in the world. So, let's take those things on one by one.
On Saturday, citizens across our great nation exercised their First Amendment rights to protest things like ICE, including in South Florida. Including in small towns like Key Largo, a strong Republican strong hold where one might think pro ICE sentiment would be strong. Perhaps it is, but don't tell that to the hundreds of protestors that line the only road to Key West.
I actually did a special post on that event.
Philip Cardella
While Alligator Alcatraz persists, so do the prayer vigils advocating for the detainees, the detention officers, the land and the people of the land (the Miccosukee). The outstanding duo of Miami Herald reporter Lauren Costantino and photographer D.A. Varela did a wonderful job discussing this very thing this week. It is long. It is excellent. It is well worth your time. The link is to a free copy/gift article.
Side note: I'm envious of both her writing and his photographs.
My wife did survive the half marathon and is enjoying a picnic as I write this. My dog is next to me asking for attention. They both fill me with hope!
As for the housing market's volatility and fragility here in Miami, people here are trying to do something about it! Take for example the local non-profit I love being a part of, People Acting for Community Together (PACT). On Friday, six members of the PACT met with Commissioner Marleine Bastien's chief of staff and legal team to discuss her commitment to fixing an error in the county ordinance that should require community meetings for any transfer of public lands and "community benefit agreements." They were trying to make sure the public gets a say in the housing developments going on seemingly every patch of land in the county outside the Everglades. I say "should," because that is how the ordinance passed when it was voted on. However, as it was entered into the books it does not.
By the way, the six PACT members at the meeting represented Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith traditions and multiple ethnic backgrounds. We (I was the white guy) looked like our community as we represented our community because we love our community.
Commissioner Bastien's staff promised to address this, starting at PACT's Annual Meeting on Monday, October 27. At the meeting PACT members will be discussing massive projects in each section of the county and how they can influence what these projects include that benefit the community.
PACT, People Acting for Community Together, is living out its mission to be about people in the community working together for the community. It's a beautiful thing in my opinion.
Bear
The History Hound Finds
Time Magazine's Made by History is freaking awesome and you should check it out. These two articles, by professional historians, are both from this week. Seriously, please read them both, especially if you think the French Revolution has lessons to teach us today.
Made by History
Made by History