Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that a new migrant detention center located deep in the Everglades will begin housing detainees as early as Tuesday. Nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” the controversial facility is already under construction on the site of a nearly abandoned Miami-Dade County airport.
Speaking on Fox News Friday morning, DeSantis said the center will be able to process more than 3,000 undocumented immigrants at a time.
Watch full report from Forrest Saunders
“We've got a massive runway right behind us where any of the federal assets that they want to fly these people back to their home country—they can do it one-stop shop,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
The project, estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars in federally reimbursable funds, was proposed just over a week ago by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. In a comment that drew criticism, Uthmeier said in his online video, “You don't need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out, there's not much waiting for them, other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.”
The Florida GOP has capitalized on the media attention, launching a line of branded merchandise, including shirts, koozies, and hats that promote the "Alligator Alcatraz" name. But the backlash has been swift and fierce.
“I think it's inhumane, it's disgusting, and it's not what we stand for as a state,” said State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando-area Democrat.
On Friday, Florida Senate Democrats sent a letter to DeSantis and Uthmeier demanding answers on due process, humane treatment, and whether the project could divert funds from hurricane preparedness.
“There is a serious discussion of whether or not this would constitute cruel and unusual punishment,” said Florida Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman.
Environmental groups are also pushing back hard. A coalition of activists filed a federal lawsuit to block the facility, citing potential harm to the Everglades and a lack of required environmental reviews or public input.
“Federal law is clear… they have to look before they leap, so they don't cause massive damage to really important resources,” said Elise Bennett of the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Governor’s office dismissed the lawsuit, defending the site’s location and purpose.
“This facility is a necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a pre-existing airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment. We look forward to litigating this case,” one of Gov. DeSantis' staffers said.
And this is just the beginning. DeSantis is also considering a second migrant processing center at Camp Blanding, a National Guard training base in northeastern Florida, envisioned as a companion facility to “Alligator Alcatraz.”
This article was written by Forrest Saunders for the Scripps News Group in Florida.
