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The Trump administration and Florida leaders work together to establish detention centers in remote areas of the state’s swamp Everglades to possess undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation.
The website, known as the Alligator Alcatraz, opened Tuesday, through a partnership that will fund the federal government in the coming days and provide soft holding units for hundreds of detainees in the coming days, while the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) will oversee the buildings and management. Under the agreement, other holding units will be added next month.
President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem attended the opening ceremony. Leaders also held a roundtable discussion on the facility, which is expected to cost about $450 million per year. The funds will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Housing and Services Program, which is used to accommodate asylum seekers during the Biden administration.
Before heading to Florida on Tuesday, Trump advised anyone trying to escape from immigration detention centers to Zigzag, trying to escape alligators and other animals lurking in the Everglades.
The president told reporters: “Don’t run straight; run like this.”
The DHS approved location in Ochopee, Florida will enable the transfer of immigrants arrested in Sunshine State and U.S. immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) officials.
Florida flag waving with the American flag. (Getty Image)
Why Florida?
DeSantis’s administration earlier this year raised a partnership with the federal government in a 37-page Immigration Enforcement Action Plan, outlining the state’s request for reimbursement and limiting restrictions on addressing unauthorized immigration.
“Governor Dantis insists that under his leadership, Florida will help the federal government enforce immigration laws,” the governor’s office said in a statement to Hill. “Using this space and/or other spaces across the state, Florida will continue to lead immigration enforcement.”
Florida officials noted in the partnership proposal that the state’s “geographic location, environmental culture, and the convergence of three major interstates (I-10, I-75 and I-95) make criminal organizations from foreigners to drugs to guns and guns and guns attractive.”
The July 2024 Pew Research Center report on unauthorized immigrant communities in the U.S. found that Florida had at least 400,000 people in 2019 to 2022, more than any other state in the country, and estimated its undocumented immigrant population was about 1.2 million.
The Florida proposal argues that “the nature and broad scope of illegal alien existence deserves a rethinking of detention procedures and standards” and urges the Trump administration to abandon some ice detention standards.
Florida officials said the isolated Everglades Airport said the immigration detention center known as the “crocodile Taras” is just days away from operation. (Contributed by AP through the office of Attorney General James Uthmeier)
Why do you want this location?
The Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport (about 36 miles south of Miami) in Ochopee, Florida is owned by the Miami Dade County Government.
The nearly 40 square mile site was first developed in the late 1960s and planned to become a major hub, but was struggling due to environmental concerns, leaving only a single line used as a training site and rare general aviation needs.
Florida officials touted the Belt as a benefit because it would allow immigrants to be deported in and out without much distraction.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) highlights its remote location as a reward in a potential “Crocodile Demon” video.
“People are out and there isn’t much waiting for them except for alligators and pythons. It may get up and can accommodate up to 1,000 criminals in just 30 to 60 days after we start building,” Usmeer said in a video shared on social platform X last month.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier spoke on March 5, 2025 at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida.
State takeover
FDEM initially proposed to buy the Dard-Torir Airport from Miami-Dade County, but DeSantis’s administration was unable to reach an agreement with local leaders on the price, so the state moved to move it using the governor’s emergency authorization agency.
FDEM Executive Director Kevin Guthrie wrote in a letter to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava that the agency will “start immediately to take advantage of the improvement area of the site because I now think it is necessary to meet the department’s current live meeting
Operational requirements for responding to emergencies. ”
“Time is crucial,” Gusri wrote. “We must act quickly to ensure the preparation and continuity of statewide action to assist the federal government in adopting immigration enforcement.”
The director added that as long as DeSantis’ state emergency declaration for immigrants remains in effect, the state will maintain control over the location.
DeSantis’s initial statement was published in June 2023, citing “the massive migration of unauthorized foreigners, including related abandonment of ships, without proper federal support, (that) has put pressure on local resources and will continue to exceed the capacity of local governments across the state.”
In the following months, he renewed the order at 60-day intervals as required by Florida. The latest extension will be released on June 3 and will expire on August 2 unless it is extended again.
Miami Duade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava spoke in Miami on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Mayor weighs
Levine Cava, who has served as mayor of Miami Dard since 2020, told Hill in a statement she was concerned that the state government was acting too quickly on the project to fully assess its impact.
“We understand that the state agencies under the governor have broad powers to act in a declared state of emergency, but given the significant impact on our community, the rapid pace of this work provides little opportunity for due diligence.”
The mayor highlighted the potential environmental damage the facility could cause to the surrounding Everglades.
“Florida has invested billions with the federal government, including $6.5 billion from Gov. DeSantis’s leadership – given the restoration of Everglades, given the importance of Everglades is critical not only to our environment and the importance of clean drinking water, but it is the foundation of our state with the foundation of the Levine tourism economy,” the Governor’s Office has said, “Operation on site will be completely independent, but we continue to worry about how facilities of this size can operate without affecting the surrounding ecosystem.”
She also noted that the state initially offered to buy the property for $20 million, one-tenth of the value assessed based on the latest property.
“Given the financial pressures faced by the county, partly due to the reduced national budget and ongoing pressure on demand for local income, it is crucial that we must represent residents to maximize the value of all taxpayer assets.”