President Donald Trump traveled to a remote area of South Florida to tour the state’s newest immigration detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” on Tuesday, coinciding with the same day the government planned to move its first detainees into the facility.
The facility’s opening comes just weeks after it was proposed by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, aligning with the Trump administration‘s quota for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to arrest 3,000 illegal immigrants per day.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the facility is “an efficient and low-cost way to help carry out the largest mass deportation campaign in American history.”
Here’s everything you need to know about “Alligator Alcatraz”:
Where is it?
The detention facility sits deep within Florida’s Everglades, roughly 50 miles west of coastal Miami. It’s located at an unused airport strip on a 30-square-mile area currently owned by Miami-Dade County.
“Alligator Alcatraz” sits off of Tamiami Trail, a single-lane road that links Miami to the Gulf Coast city of Naples. The closest town has fewer than 150 residents, and “there’s only one road leading in, and there’s only one way out,” according to Leavitt.
The proposal comes as ICE detention centers are exceeding capacity. More than 48,000 people are being held in immigration detention, according to ICE, and almost 90% of individuals held by the agency are located in facilities operated by private, for-profit companies.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) approved “Alligator Alcatraz” in late June, saying the multipurpose airport and detention center created an “effective way” to increase ICE deportations.
“The federal government can fly right on the runway right there,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Wildwood. “You literally drive them 2,000 feet, put them on a plane, and then they’re gone. It’s very logistically simple.”
What does it entail?
The property is nearly identical to structures that U.S. Customs and Border Protection created due to the high influx of illegal immigrants who entered at the southern border during the Biden administration. ICE, not state authorities, will run the site.
The facility includes massive tents with rooms big enough for families, adult men, and adult women to be housed. It also includes laundry machines, bathrooms, showers, and a dining area.
“It is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife in unforgiving terrain,” Leavitt said. “The facility will have up to 5,000 beds to house, process, and deport criminal illegal aliens.”
Uthmeier noted the remote location offers natural containment due to the surrounding swampland and wildlife, making it nearly escape-proof.
Why is it called ‘Alligator Alcatraz’?
Uthmeier coined the facility’s informal name in an interview with Fox Business.
“If somebody were to get out, there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,” Uthmeier told the outlet. “Only the alligators and pythons are waiting. That’s why I like to call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’”
The facility is remote, in a swampy location, with surrounding wildlife, including alligators and pythons.
“When you have illegal murderers and rapists and heinous criminals in a detention center surrounded by alligators, yes, I do think that’s a deterrent for them to try to escape,” Leavitt said.
When is it expected to be up and running?
The center planned to have its first detainees on July 1. Less than 24 hours before Trump’s visit, dozens of dump trucks and construction crews were seen on-site to complete the tent-like structures.
DeSantis fast-tracked the soft-sided facility’s construction after approving it in late June. It was built in just eight days, complete with 20,000 feet of barbed wire surrounding it, and will host 3,000 detainees and 1,000 staff.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the facility will expand, with more bed space in “just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.” DeSantis said the state is looking at Camp Blanding, a Florida National Guard site in the state’s northeast region, as an additional ICE detention center site.
“Alligator Alcatraz, and other facilities like it, will give us the capability to lock up some of the worst scumbags who entered our country under the previous administration,” Noem said in a statement. “Make America safe again.”
How is it funded, and how much does it cost?
On June 24, Noem said the federal government would fund a state push from Florida for immigration detention centers, including “Alligator Alcatraz.” Funding will come “in large part” from the Federal Emergency Management Agency‘s shelter and services program, she said.
FEMA was created by Congress in 1987 and has supported facilities and asylum-seekers who were arrested in federal custody at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The detention center will cost $450 million per year to operate. Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which houses his domestic agency, sets aside $45 billion for ICE detention.
FEMA has roughly $625 million in Shelter and Services Program funds that can be allocated to the effort, costing $245 per bed per day for 5,000 beds via a team of vendors.
Members of Congress have expressed worries to Noem, saying she’s “overspending her department’s budget.” In particular, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has warned Noem that DHS risks running out of its annual $65 billion funding by July, two months before the end of the fiscal 2025.
“I am very concerned that DHS is now dramatically overspending funding that Congress has not provided,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said. “We take our responsibility seriously to fund your department and others. We need to have answers, we need to have accountability, and we need to make sure you’re not overspending money that you were not allocated.”
Why did Trump visit ‘Alligator Alcatraz’?
The Washington Examiner reported Sunday evening that Trump would make an appearance at “Alligator Alcatraz,” which Leavitt confirmed on Monday.
“President Trump will travel to the great state of Florida to attend the opening of a new illegal alien detention center located at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, alongside Secretary Kristi Noem, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Congressman Byron Donalds, and other state and local leaders,” Leavitt said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump spoke during a roundtable at the site and said the facility “will house some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet. We’re surrounded by miles of treacherous swamp land, and the only way out is really deportation.”
Trump said another detention center for illegal immigrants would open in Florida and floated facilities forming in other states, such as Alabama and Louisiana.
What are the protests about?
Environmental groups, including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a lawsuit on June 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against DHS, ICE, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Miami-Dade County to attempt to block the build-out of the facility.
“The site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.”
FLORIDA CREWS RUSH TO FINISH ICE’S ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’ AHEAD OF TRUMP ARRIVAL
In the days before Trump’s visit, several dozen activists and protesters were spotted along the road with signs calling for the project to end, and warning that “Alligator Alcatraz” will damage the environment.
Despite the protesters, the Florida GOP is capitalizing on the detention center by selling merchandise. On the online store, the GOP is selling T-shirts, hats, and can cozies featuring gator-themed branding with the slogan, “Alligator Alcatraz.”