Florida fast-tracks ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center in the Everglades
Battle over new immigration detention center
Gov. Ron DeSantis has activated emergency powers to take control of an abandoned South Florida airport, transforming the space into a 5,000-seat immigration detention center. FOX 13’s Matthew McClellan reports.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida is now using emergency powers to take over a remote, 30-square-mile site in the Everglades to build what some are calling "Alligator Alcatraz."
What we know:
The site is located at the abandoned Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.
Pictured: The site of 'Alligator Alcatraz' at the abandoned Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management confirmed in a June 23 letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava that it is immediately occupying the property to support federal immigration enforcement.
The state said the site will hold up to 5,000 immigration detainees and will operate under the current state of emergency. Construction is already underway.
Pictured: The site of 'Alligator Alcatraz' at the abandoned Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.
The other side:
Critics, including Florida Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost, call the project "cruel." Frost said many of the people being detained haven’t been convicted of crimes and shouldn't be held in a remote, swampy area.
In an interview with FOX's Orlando affiliate, Frost pointed to state officials’ own remarks about not needing fences because natural barriers like alligators and swampland would prevent escape.
READ: Supreme Court lets Trump resume deportations to third countries
Support From State Leaders:
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier supports the plan, calling it a cost-effective solution. In a June 19 X post, Uthmeier described the site as "the one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda."
Jack Brewer, who runs faith-based prison programs in Florida, also backs the project.
"You're talking about millions of people that have already had deportation orders put against them," Brewer told FOX 35 Orlando. "So the system is being overrun and so these measures are in a time of desperation."
The Source: This reporting is based on a letter from the Florida Division of Emergency Management dated June 23, 2025, interviews with Rep. Maxwell Frost and Jack Brewer, and published statements from Attorney General James Uthmeier. Additional context from WOFL-TV and FOX 13 News archives.
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