(Hill) – The Trump administration and Florida leaders are moving forward with plans to build detention facilities in remote areas surrounded by the nation’s swamps, retaining undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation.
The site, called “Alligator Alcatraz,” can be opened with softside holding units for hundreds of detainees in the coming years through a federally funded partnership and overseeing build-outs and management by the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM). Additional holding units will be added under the contract until next month.
The facility is projected to cost around $450 million a year. This comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shelter and services program, which was used to house asylum seekers during the Biden administration.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbospeed on cost-effective and innovative ways to realize Americans’ missions against the massive deportation of illegal criminal aliens,” said Christie Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), in a statement this week. “Thanks to our partnership with Florida, we will be expanding our facilities and bed space in just a few days.”
The DHS-approved plan will allow new Florida facilities to retain migrants arrested in the sunshine state and to relocate from US Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
Florida flag waving along with the US flag. (Getty Images)
Why Florida?
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) administration proposed a partnership to the federal government in a 37-page “Immigration Enforcement Business Plan,” earlier this year, outlining requests for reimbursements and loose restrictions on dealing with fraudulent immigration.
“Governor DeSantis has argued that Florida, under his leadership, will promote the federal government in enforcing immigration laws,” the Governor’s Office said in a statement to the Hill. “Using this space and other people in the state, Florida will continue to guide immigration enforcement.”
In the partnership proposal, Florida officials noted that the state’s “geography, surrounding culture, and three major interstates (confluence of I-10, I-75 and I-95) have become attractive to criminal organizations that smuggle everything from aliens to drugs to guns and money.
A July 2024 Pew Research Center report on unauthorized immigrant communities in the United States found that Florida estimated at least 400,000 (increasing more than any other state in the country) between 2019 and 2022, about 1.2 million of its undocumented immigrant population.
Florida’s proposal argued that “the nature and vast scope of the existence of illegal aliens deserves a rethinking of the detention process and standards,” urging the Trump administration to abandon ice detention standards.
An isolated Everglades airfield outside Miami said Florida officials called the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility, which is known as the Alligator Alcatraz, is several days away from operations. (Provided by Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office via the AP)
Why this place?
Dade Carrier Training and Transition Airport, located in O’Coupe, Florida, about 36 miles south of Miami, is owned by the Miami-Dade County government.
The nearly 40 square miles site was first developed in the late 1960s with plans to become a major hub, but the project sparkled due to environmental concerns, leaving only a single strip and rare general aviation needs that was used as a training site.
Florida officials have touted the strip as a profit to allow immigrants to enter and exit the holdings without much confusion.
In the video that produced the site with a potential “Alligator Alcatraz,” Florida Attorney General James Usmier (R) highlighted the remote location as a bonus.
“People are out and waiting for them a lot other than crocodile and Pison. They can’t go anywhere, they don’t hide anywhere,” Usmeer said in a video shared on social platform X.
State acquisitions
FDEM initially offered to buy Dade Carrier Airport from Miami-Dade County, but the DeSantis administration was unable to reach an agreement with local leaders on prices, so instead the state moved to use the governor’s emergency authority to take over it.
In a letter to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Leviin Kava (D), FDEM’s executive director, Kevin Guthrie wrote that the agency will “start immediate use of improved areas of the site” because it “because it believes it needs to meet the current operational demands of the department in dealing with emergencies.”
“Time is the essence,” Guthrie wrote. “We must act promptly to ensure the preparation and continuity of our statewide businesses to help the federal government enforce immigration.”
The director added that the state will maintain control of the site as long as DeSantis’ state emergency declaration on immigration remains in effect.
The first declaration of Desantis was issued in June 2023, citing “a massive migration of unauthorized aliens, including related waiver of vessels, without proper support from the federal government.” [that] It creates unmanageable tensions in local resources and continues to overburden local government capabilities across the state. ”
He updated orders at 60-day intervals over the following months, as required under Florida law. The latest extension will be issued on June 3rd and expires on August 2nd unless it is expanded again.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Leviin Kaba will speak in Miami on Wednesday, June 11th, 2025. (AP Photo/Maltara Bandia)
The mayor measures weight
Levine Cava, Miami-Dade Mayor since 2020, told Hill in a statement that he is concerned that the state government is moving too fast on the project without fully assessing its impact.
“We understand that state agencies have a wide range of authority to take action under the state’s state of emergency, declared under the direction of the governor, but the rapid pace of this effort has given us little opportunity for due diligence, with potentially significant impacts in our community,” she said.
The mayor highlighted the environmental hazards the facility could have on the surrounding Everglades.
“Florida, alongside the federal government, has invested billions of dollars, including $6.5 billion under Governor DiSantis’ leadership. “The governor’s office says ‘Open on-site operations are completely self-contained,’ but it’s concerned about how a facility of this size can work without affecting the surrounding ecosystems. ”
She also pointed out that the state initially offered to buy the property for $20 million.
“It’s important to maximize the value of all taxpayer assets on behalf of residents, given the continued pressure from state budget cuts and demand for local revenues as the county faces continue,” the mayor wrote.
