Feds approve Florida for a $608 million ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ reimbursement

Oct. 3, 2025:

UNDATED-AP- Federal officials on Friday (Oct. 3, 2025) confirmed Florida has been approved for a $608 million reimbursement for the costs of building and running an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, exposing “Alligator Alcatraz” to the potential risk of being ordered to close for a second time.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an email that the state of Florida was awarded its full reimbursement this week.

While the funds have been approved, they haven’t yet been released since the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s process requires that it review expenses for which reimbursement requests are made, Stephanie Hartman, director of communications for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in an email to The Associated Press.

The reimbursement process potentially exposes the state of Florida to being forced to unwind operations at the remote facility for a second time because of a federal judge’s injunction in August. The Miami judge agreed with environmental groups who had sued that the site wasn’t given a proper environmental review before it was converted into an immigration detention center and gave Florida two months to wind down operations.

The judge’s injunction, however, was put on hold for the time being by an appellate court panel in Atlanta that said the state-run facility didn’t need to undergo a federally required environmental impact study because Florida had yet to receive federal money for the project.

“If the federal defendants ultimately decide to approve that request and reimburse Florida for its expenditures related to the facility, they may need to first conduct an EIS (environmental impact statement),” the three-judge appellate court panel wrote last month.

The appellate panel decision allowed the detention center to stay open and put a stop to wind-down efforts.

President Donald Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.

Environmental groups that had sued the federal and state governments said the confirmation of the reimbursement showed that the Florida-built facility was a federal project “from the jump.”

“This is a federal project being built with federal funds that’s required by federal law to go through a complete environmental review,” Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “We’ll do everything we can to stop this lawless, destructive and wasteful debacle.”

Sept. 5, 2025:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal appeals court panel on Thursday (Sept. 4, 2025) put on hold a lower court judge’s order to end operations indefinitely at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The three-judge panel in Atlanta decided by a 2-1 vote to stay the federal judge’s order pending the outcome of an appeal, saying it was in the public interest. The ruling will allow the facility to continue holding detainees for the time being.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami issued a preliminary injunction last month ordering operations at the facility to be wound down by the end of October, with detainees transferred to other facilities and equipment and fencing removed.

Williams’ decision was issued in response to a lawsuit brought by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe, who accused the state and federal defendants of not following federal law requiring an environmental review for the detention center in the middle of sensitive wetlands.

“This is a heartbreaking blow to America’s Everglades and every living creature there, but the case isn’t even close to over,” Elise Bennett, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said Thursday.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration in late June raced to build the facility on an isolated airstrip surrounded by wetlands to aid President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport people in the U.S. illegally. The governor said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it after.

Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.

DeSantis said on social media Thursday, after the appellate panel issued its ruling, that claims that the facility’s shutdown were imminent were false.

“We said we would fight that. We said the mission would continue,” DeSantis said. “So Alligator Alcatraz is in fact, like we’ve always said, open for business.”

The Department of Homeland Security called Thursday’s ruling “a win for the American people, the rule of law and common sense.”

“This lawsuit was never about the environmental impacts of turning a developed airport into a detention facility,” DHS said in a statement. “It has and will always be about open-borders activists and judges trying to keep law enforcement from removing dangerous criminal aliens from our communities, full stop.”

The state and federal government defendants appealed Williams’ ruling, asking that it be put on hold. The state of Florida said in court papers this week that it planned to resume accepting detainees at the facility if the stay was granted.

Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said the case was far from over.

“In the meantime, if the DeSantis and Trump administrations choose to ramp operations back up at the detention center, they will just be throwing good money after bad because this ill-considered facility — which is causing harm to the Everglades — will ultimately be shut down,” Samples said.

The federal government claims that it isn’t responsible for the detention center since it hasn’t spent a cent to build or operate the facility, even though Florida is seeking some federal grant money to fund a portion of it. Florida claims that the environmental impact statement required by federal law doesn’t apply to states.

In Thursday’s ruling, the majority on the appellate panel largely accepted those arguments, saying Williams erred by assuming statements federal officials had made about reimbursing the state weren’t the same as a final decision about funding the facility.

Aug. 28, 2025:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge in Miami has refused to pause her order to wind down the immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades. Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had requested a stay, arguing the order would disrupt immigration law enforcement. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe opposed the request. Their lawsuit claims the facility threatens sensitive wetlands and reverses environmental restoration efforts. The center, built two months ago, has faced multiple lawsuits over environmental and civil rights concerns. Florida officials are preparing to open a second facility called “Deportation Depot.”

Aug. 27, 2025:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A top Florida official says the controversial state-run immigration detention facility in the Everglades will likely be empty in a matter of days, even as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and the federal government fight a judge’s order to shutter the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by late October. That’s according to an email exchange shared with The Associated Press.

In a message sent to South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman on Aug. 22, 2025, related to providing chaplaincy services at the facility, Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said “we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days.” Rojzman, and the executive assistant who sent the original email to Guthrie, both confirmed the veracity of the messages to the AP on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Guthrie, whose agency has overseen the construction and operation of the site, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The facility was rapidly constructed two months ago with the goal of holding up to 3,000 detainees as part of President Donald Trump’s push to deport people who are in the U.S. illegally. At one point, it held almost 1,000 detainees, but U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said that he was told during a tour last week that only 300 to 350 detainees remained. Three lawsuits challenging practices at the detention center have been filed, including one that estimated at least 100 detainees who had been at the facility have been deported. Others have been transferred to other immigration detention centers.

News that the last detainee at “Alligator Alcatraz” could leave the facility within days came less than a week after a federal judge in Miami ordered the detention center to wind down operations, with the last detainee needing to be out within 60 days. The state of Florida appealed the decision, and the federal government asked U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams to put her order on hold pending the appeal, saying that the Everglades facility’s thousands of beds were badly needed since other detention facilities in Florida were overcrowded.

The environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, whose lawsuit led to the judge’s ruling, opposed the request. They disputed that the Everglades facility was needed, especially as Florida plans to open a second immigration detention facility in north Florida that DeSantis has dubbed “Deportation Depot.”

Williams had not ruled on the stay request as of Wednesday.

The judge said in her order that she expected the population of the facility to decline within 60 days by transferring detainees to other facilities, and once that happened, fencing, lighting and generators should be removed.

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe had argued in their lawsuit that further construction and operations should be stopped until federal and state officials complied with federal environmental laws. Their lawsuit claimed the facility threatened environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would undermine billions of dollars spent over decades on environmental restoration.

By late July, state officials had already signed more than $245 million in contracts for building and operating the facility at a lightly used, single-runway training airport in the middle of the rugged and remote Everglades. The center officially opened July 1.

In their lawsuits, civil rights attorneys described “severe problems” at the facility which were “previously unheard-of in the immigration system.” Detainees were being held for weeks without any charges, they had disappeared from ICE’s online detainee locator and no one at the facility was making initial custody or bond determinations, they said.

Detainees also had described worms turning up in the food, toilets that didn’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.

Aug. 22, 2025:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has put a stop to further expansion of the immigration detention center built in the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz, ordering that its operations wind down within two months.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami wrote in her 82-page order late Thursday (Aug. 21, 2025) that Florida officials never sufficiently explained why an immigration detention center needed to be located in the middle of sensitive wetlands cherished by environmentalists and outdoors people.

She also said that state and federal authorities never undertook an environmental review as required by federal law before Florida officials hastily built the detention camp which they championed as a model for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. That failure adversely affected the “recreational, conservational, and aesthetic interests” of the environmental groups and Miccosukee Tribe which brought the lawsuit, she said.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday reacted to the ruling, saying he would not be deterred by “an activist judge.”

“We knew this would be something that would likely happen,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Panama City. “We will respond accordingly. You either have a country or you don’t.”

Here’s what to know about the situation and what might come next:

What did the judge say?

Williams said she expected the population at the facility to drop within 60 days by transferring detainees to other facilities. Once that happens, fencing, lighting, gas, waste, generators and other equipment should be removed from the site. No additional detainees can be sent to the facility, and no more additional lighting, fencing, paving, buildings or tents can be added to the camp. The only repairs that can be made to the existing facility are for safety purposes. However, the judge allowed for the existing dormitories and housing to stay in place as long as they are maintained to prevent deterioration or damage.

Here’s where detainees might end up

During court hearings, lawyers said at one point there were fewer than 1,000 detainees at the facility, which state officials had planned to hold up to 3,000 people. Although the detainees could be sent to other facilities out of state, Florida has other immigration detention centers including the Krome North Processing Center in Miami, the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach and the Baker County Detention Center managed by the local sheriff’s office. Earlier this month, DeSantis announced plans for a second state-initiated immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot” at a state prison about 43 miles (69 kilometers) west of downtown Jacksonville. State officials say it is expected to hold 1,300 immigration detention beds, though that capacity could be expanded to 2,000 beds.

How does this decision impact the other “Alligator Alcatraz” lawsuit?

Civil rights lawyers had filed a second lawsuit over practices at “Alligator Alcatraz,” claiming that detainees weren’t able to meet with their attorneys privately and were denied access to immigration courts. Another federal judge in Miami dismissed part of the lawsuit earlier this week after the Trump administration designated the Krome North Processing Center as the court for their cases to be heard. The judge moved the remaining counts of the case from Florida’s southern district to the middle district. Eunice Cho, the lead attorney for the detainees, said Friday that the decision in the environmental lawsuit won’t have an impact on the civil rights case since there could be detainees at the facility for the next two months.

“Our case addresses the lack of access to counsel for people detained at Alligator Alcatraz, and there are still people detained there,” Cho said.

Status of the hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts

No one has said publicly what will happen to the hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts involved in the facility. DeSantis’ administration in July signed contracts with private vendors to pay at least $245 million to set up and run the center, according to a public database. That amount — to be fronted by Florida taxpayers — was in line with the $450 million a year officials have estimated the facility was going to cost. The governor’s office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management on Friday didn’t respond to questions about whether Florida taxpayers would still be on the hook for the contracts if the facility is shuttered.

Is this a final decision?

No. This case will continue to be litigated. The state of Florida filed a notice of appeal Thursday night, shortly after the ruling was issued. As its name suggests, a preliminary injunction is only an initial action taken by a judge to prevent harm while a lawsuit makes its way through the court process and when it appears that one side has a good chance of succeeding based on the merits of the case.

Aug. 19, 2025:

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami issued a split decision in a lawsuit over the legal rights of detainees at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” dismissing part of the suit and also moving the case to a different jurisdiction.

U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz issued the decision late Monday (Aug. 18, 2025), writing in a 47-page ruling that claims the detainees at the facility don’t have confidential access to their lawyers or to hearings in immigration court were rendered moot when the Trump administration recently designated the Krome North Processing Center near Miami as a site for their cases to be heard.

The judge heard arguments from both sides in a hearing earlier Monday in Miami. Civil rights civil rights attorneys were seeking a preliminary injunction to ensure detainees at the facility have access to their lawyers and can get a hearing.

The state and federal government had argued that even though the isolated airstrip where the facility is located is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida’s southern district was the wrong venue since the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is in the state’s middle district.

Judge Ruiz had hinted during a hearing last week that he had some concerns over which jurisdiction was appropriate.

“Much has changed since the complaint’s filing,” Ruiz wrote.

Six of the plaintiffs have met with lawyers through videoconference, though they claimed the conferences are not confidential since they are not in an enclosed room and staff is close by and in listening proximity to the detainees.

A subset of detainees alleged they are eligible for bond hearings and their lawyers have been “unable to access — yet alone identify — the proper court for those hearings.”

But Ruiz noted the facts in the case changed Saturday, when the Trump administration designated the Krome facility as the immigration court with jurisdiction over all detainees at the detention center.

Ruiz wrote that the case has “a tortured procedural history” since it was filed July 16, weeks after the first group of detainees arrived at the facility.

“Nearly every aspect of the Plaintiffs’ civil action — their causes of action, their facts in support, their theories of venue, their arguments on the merits and their requests for relief — have changed with each filing,” the judge wrote.

The judge granted the state defendants change of venue motion to the Middle District of Florida, where the remaining claims of First Amendment violations will be addressed.

The state and federal government defendants made an identical argument last week about jurisdiction for a second lawsuit in which environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe sued to stop further construction and operations at the Everglades detention center until it’s in compliance with federal environmental laws.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami on Aug. 7 ordered a 14-day halt on additional construction at the site while witnesses testified at a hearing that wrapped up last week. She has said she plans to issue a ruling before the order expires later this week. She had yet to rule on the venue question.

Aug. 18, 2025:

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge will hear arguments Monday (Aug. 18, 2025) over whether detainees at a temporary immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades have been denied their legal rights.

In the second of two lawsuits challenging practices at the facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” civil rights attorneys are seeking a preliminary injunction to ensure that detainees at the facility have confidential access to their lawyers, which they say hasn’t happened. Florida officials dispute that claim.

The civil rights attorneys also want U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz to identify an immigration court that has jurisdiction over the detention center so that petitions can be filed for the detainees’ bond or release. The attorneys say that hearings for their cases have been routinely canceled in federal Florida immigration courts by judges who say they don’t have jurisdiction over the detainees held in the Everglades.

“The situation at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is so anomalous from what is typically granted at other immigration facilities,” Eunice Cho, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, said Thursday during a virtual meeting to prepare for Monday’s hearing in Miami.

But before delving into the core issues of the detainees’ rights, Ruiz has said he wants to hear about whether the lawsuit was filed in the proper jurisdiction in Miami. The state and federal government defendants have argued that even though the isolated airstrip where the facility was built is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida’s southern district is the wrong venue since the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is in the state’s middle district.

The judge has hinted that some issues may pertain to one district and other issues to the other district, but said he would decide after Monday’s hearing.

“I think we should all be prepared that, before we get into any real argument about preliminary injunctive relief, that we at least spend some time working through the venue issues,” Ruiz said Thursday.

The hearing over legal access comes as another federal judge in Miami considers whether construction and operations at the facility should be halted indefinitely because federal environmental rules weren’t followed. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Aug. 7 ordered a 14-day halt on additional construction at the site while witnesses testified at a hearing that wrapped up last week. She has said she plans to issue a ruling before the order expires later this week.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that his administration was preparing to open a second immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot” at a state prison in north Florida. DeSantis justified building the second detention center by saying President Donald Trump’s administration needs the additional capacity to hold and deport more immigrants.

The state of Florida has disputed claims that “Alligator Alcatraz” detainees have been unable to meet with their attorneys. The state’s lawyers said that since July 15, when videoconferencing started at the facility, the state has granted every request for a detainee to meet with an attorney, and in-person meetings started July 28. The first detainees arrived at the beginning of July.

But the civil rights attorneys said that even if lawyers have been scheduled to meet with their clients at the detention center, it hasn’t been in private or confidential, and it is more restrictive than at other immigration detention facilities. They said scheduling delays and an unreasonable advanced notice requirement have hindered their ability to meet with the detainees, thereby violating their constitutional rights.

Civil rights attorneys said officers are going cell-to-cell to pressure detainees into signing voluntary removal orders before they’re allowed to consult their attorneys, and some detainees have been deported even though they didn’t have final removal orders. Along with the spread of a respiratory infection and rainwater flooding their tents, the circumstances have fueled a feeling of desperation among detainees, the attorneys wrote in a court filing.

“One intellectually disabled detainee was told to sign a paper in exchange for a blanket, but was then deported subject to voluntary removal after he signed, without the ability to speak to his counsel,” the filing said.

The judge has promised a quick decision once the hearing is done.

Aug. 13, 2025:

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge is considering (Aug. 13, 2025) whether the construction of a makeshift immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” violates environmental laws. Last week, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a two-week halt on additional construction while witnesses testify. That order doesn’t restrict law enforcement or immigration enforcement activity. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe want the judge to halt operations and further construction. They argue it threatens sensitive wetlands and could reverse billions of dollars in environmental restoration. The state and federal government argue the facility is under Florida’s jurisdiction, so a federal environmental review wouldn’t apply.

Aug. 8, 2025:

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday (Aug. 7, 2025) ordered a two-week halt to construction at an immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” as she considers whether it violates environmental laws.

The facility was quickly built two months ago at a lightly used, single-runway training airport and can hold up to 3,000 detainees in temporary tent structures. The site was continuing to be built out, but the order by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams temporarily bars the installation of any new industrial-style lighting, as well as any paving, filling, excavating or fencing. The order also prohibits any other site expansion, including placing or erecting any additional buildings, tents, dormitories or other residential or administrative facilities.

The order doesn’t include any restrictions on law enforcement or immigration enforcement activity at the center, which is currently holding hundreds of detainees. Williams issued the temporary restraining order during a hearing and then followed up with a written order later Thursday.

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe have asked Williams to issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction. The suit argues that the project threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars’ worth of environmental restoration.

“We’re pleased that the judge saw the urgent need to put a pause on additional construction, and we look forward to advancing our ultimate goal of protecting the unique and imperiled Everglades ecosystem from further damage caused by this mass detention facility,” said Eve Samples, executive director at Friends of the Everglades.

A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis decried the ruling but said it “will have no impact on immigration enforcement in Florida.”

“Alligator Alcatraz will remain operational, continuing to serve as a force multiplier to enhance deportation efforts,” spokesperson Alex Lanfranconi said in a statement.

The order is temporary, since arguments in the case are still pending

Plaintiffs presented witnesses Wednesday and Thursday in support of the injunction, while attorneys for the state and federal government were scheduled to present next week.

Following Thursday’s testimony, Paul Schwiep, an attorney for the environmental groups, asked Williams to issue a temporary restraining order that would at least prevent any new construction at the site while the preliminary injunction was argued.

Williams asked Florida attorney Jesse Panuccio if the state would agree to halt construction so that she wouldn’t need to issue the restraining order. She pointed out that anything built at the site would likely remain there permanently, regardless of how the case was ultimately decided.

Panuccio said he couldn’t guarantee that the state would stop all work.

This sparked an hour-long hearing about the temporary restraining order, which will be in place for the next two weeks while the ongoing preliminary injunction hearing continues. Temporary restraining orders are meant to maintain the status quo during a legal dispute for a short period of time, while preliminary injunctions are generally issued after a longer hearing and last until the final resolution of the case.

The legal fight centers on federal vs. state control of the site

The crux of the plaintiffs’ argument is that the detention facility violates the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of major construction projects.

Panuccio said during the hearing that although the detention center would be holding federal detainees, the construction and operation of the facility is entirely under the state of Florida, meaning the NEPA review wouldn’t apply.

Schwiep said the purpose of the facility is for immigration enforcement, which is exclusively a federal function. He said the facility wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the federal government’s desire for a facility to hold detainees.

Williams said Thursday that the detention facility was, at a minimum, a joint partnership between the state and federal government.

Christopher McVoy, a soil physicist, hydrologist and wetlands ecologist, testified for the plaintiffs on Thursday that at least 20 acres (8 hectares) of asphalt have been added to the site since the Florida Department of Emergency Management began construction, based on a tour that he took of the facility in June, just days before it opened, and subsequent arial photos of the site. Tents, trailers and other heavy equipment have also been moved to the airport, which previously had just a few small structures.

Dillon Reio, a licensed professional geologist, testified that the new paving could lead to an increase in water runoff to the adjacent wetlands and spread harmful chemicals into the Everglades.

A second lawsuit alleges violations of detainees’ rights

The lawsuit in Miami against federal and state authorities is one of two legal challenges to the South Florida detention center, which was built more than a month ago by the state of Florida on an isolated airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County.

A second lawsuit brought by civil rights groups says detainees’ constitutional rights are being violated since they are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has canceled bond hearings. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Aug. 18.

In a court filing in the civil rights lawsuit on Thursday, the state of Florida said that detainees have been allowed to meet with their lawyers for three weeks at the detention center, which opened July 3, despite some initial delays due to logistical challenges in having private contractors build infrastructure and install equipment. Since July 15, the state has granted every request for a detainee to meet with an attorney, it said.

“More meetings are taking place every day and there have been no complaints,” according to the filing.

Construction, maintenance and operation of the detention center are done by the state of Florida, “without involvement of the federal government,” though the state is granted authority over the detainees through an intergovernmental agreement with federal agencies, the court filing said.

Under the 55-year-old federal environmental law, federal agencies should have examined how the detention center’s construction would impact the environment, identified ways to minimize the impact and followed other procedural rules such as allowing public comment, according to the environmental groups and the tribe.

It makes no difference that the detention center was built by the state of Florida, since federal agencies have authority over immigration, the lawsuit said.

Attorneys for federal and state agencies last week asked Williams to dismiss or transfer the injunction request, saying the lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction. Even though the property is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida’s southern district is the wrong venue for the lawsuit since the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is in the state’s middle district, they said.

Williams had yet to rule on that argument.

The lawsuits were being heard as DeSantis′ administration apparently was preparing to build a second immigration detention center at a Florida National Guard training center in north Florida. At least one contract has been awarded for what’s labeled in state records as the “North Detention Facility.”

July 14, 2025:

OCHOPEE, Fla. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers are condemning Florida’s new Everglades immigration detention center after making a state-arranged visit. They are describing crowded, unsanitary and bug-infested conditions that officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” But Republican legislators said they saw a clean and well-run facility while on the same tour Saturday (July 12, 2025). The visit came after some Democrats were blocked earlier from viewing the 3,000-bed detention center. The state rapidly built it on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland.

Story

July 3, 2025:

OCHOPEE, Fla. (AP) — The first group of immigrants were scheduled to arrive Wednesday night at a new detention center deep in the Florida Everglades that officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” the state’s attorney general said.

“Alligator Alcatraz will be checking in hundreds of criminal illegal aliens tonight,” Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier said on the social platform X. “Next stop: back to where they came from.”

It wasn’t immediately clear precisely when the detainees would arrive or where they were coming from. They were being brought to the facility on buses, officials said.

The facility, at an airport used for training, will have a capacity of about 3,000 detainees when fully operational, according to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The center was built in eight days over 10 miles (16 kilometers) of Everglades. It features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire and 400 security personnel.

Immigrants who are arrested by Florida law enforcement officers under the federal government’s 287(g) program will be taken to the facility, according to a Trump administration official. The program is led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and allows police officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.

The facility is expected to be operating with 500 to 1,000 beds within days, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the details of the detention facility. It is then supposed to be expanded in 500 bed increments until it has an estimated 5,000 beds by early July.

Environmental groups and Native American tribes have protested against the center, contending it is a threat to the fragile Everglades system, would be cruel to detainees because of heat and mosquitoes, and is on land the tribes consider sacred.

It’s also located at a place prone to frequent heavy rains, which caused some flooding in the tents Tuesday during a visit by President Donald Trump to mark its opening. State officials say the complex can withstand a Category 2 hurricane, which packs winds of between 96 and 110 mph (154 and 177 kph), and that contractors worked overnight to shore up areas where flooding occurred.

DeSantis and other state officials say locating the facility in the rugged and remote Florida Everglades is meant as a deterrent, and naming it after the notorious federal prison of Alcatraz, an island fortress known for its brutal conditions, is meant to send a message. It’s another sign of how the Trump administration and its allies are relying on scare tactics to try to persuade people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily.

State and federal officials have touted the plans on social media and conservative airwaves, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and “guarded” by alligators wearing hats labeled “ICE” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility’s name.