Prisonville, Florida: Low Taxes and Big Yards, All for the Price of a Box Full of Immigrants

A A A Comments By Stefan Kamph Thursday, Jan 19 2012

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Ryann Greenberg, however, is more typical of residents who oppose the prison. A stay-at-home mom and Di Scipio's strongest ally in the fight, Greenberg lives in Laguna Isles, a Pembroke Pines development.

On a cold day, she brings her 2-year-old daughter to the playground by the clubhouse, where immigrant workers are laying new mulch and a fierce wind blows down the edge of the Glades. Something is burning in the distance, turning the sky hazy.

George Martinez

Bill Di Scipio and Ryann Greenberg, who live in neighboring cities, are leading the fight against the detention center.

Courtesy of CCA

An early concept drawing from CCA.

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"It's been a challenging six months," Greenberg says of her recent past as an activist, organizing protests and digging for information. She understands normal glad-handing politics, she says, "but it's a completely different thing to put a prison next to homes and schools." Recently, she notes, the real estate firm Coldwell Banker sent a letter to prospective sellers, saying it wouldn't be held responsible for declining home values because of the prison.

"You should have done your homework," says Doug McKay, the vice mayor, in response to people whose home values stand to be affected. Most of the people who are now complaining bought their homes after CCA had moved in next door. Few of them, least of all Pembroke Pines residents, were aware of the long-term plans for Southwest Ranches.

"I'm not some idiot NIMBY person," Greenberg says as she bundles her daughter back into her minivan. "Nobody knew this was going to happen."

Back at home, she gets the neighbor to watch her daughter for a minute, then climbs up the steep grassy embankment behind her house. Across the street is a post office and, in the distance, the mound of the old county dump.

In between, where high-tension wires stretch overhead, is a little piece of Southwest Ranches: the empty plot owned by CCA. It's not beautiful or even very natural-looking, and it's obscured by trees on adjacent properties. An unremarkable sight, for now.

But if you lean over the hedgerow and squint really hard at it, on a clear day, when the sun isn't too low in the sky, you can almost see the money.