Florida Will Deputize National Guardsmen as Immigration Judges: Trump

The president and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the plan during a tour of the state’s new illegal immigrant detention facility, ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (L), President Donald Trump (C) and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (R) tour a medical facility during a visit to an illegal immigrant detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Fla. on July 1, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP

President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed on July 1 that the Sunshine State will soon start deputizing its National Guardsmen as immigration judges to expedite deportation decisions.

Trump traveled to Ochopee, Florida, on July 1 to visit a new illegal immigrant detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” situated about 40 miles southwest of Miami.

The president was joined by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, DeSantis, and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) for the new detention center’s opening ceremony.

“We’re offering up our National Guard and other folks in Florida to be deputized to be immigration judges. We’re working with the Department of Justice for the approvals,” DeSantis said during a joint press briefing.

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 empowering governors to deputize state law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws.

“Ron’s already taken advantage of it,” Trump said on Tuesday. “He has my approval.”

DeSantis said he will install a National Guard judge advocate at Alligator Alcatraz to offer defendants a rapid notice to appear, giving them one to two days before their hearings so “they’re not going to be detained, hopefully for all that long.”

The governor said he’s trying to cut through federal bureaucracy to quicken the process.

The White House said this week that Alligator Alcatraz will contain up to 5,000 beds to house, process, and deport “criminal illegal aliens.”

The detention center, which Noem approved on June 23, is expected to cost roughly $450 million per year, with plans drafted by the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) and submitted to the Department of Homeland Security.

DeSantis invoked emergency powers a day later to approve the site, which allowed the government to bypass conducting environmental reviews.

That led to two groups, the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, to sue in hopes of getting a preliminary injunction to delay the opening of Alligator Alcatraz.

The two plaintiffs argued that Florida decided to open the detention center without first conducting the environmental reviews, which are required by the National Environmental Policy Act, and failed to comply with other state, local, and federal statutes.

The groups also argued that Florida did not give public notice or allow for public comment before deciding to greenlight the facility, and that its infrastructure—particularly water use and waste runoff—will have significant impacts on protected wildlife in the surrounding area.

“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,” Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said in a statement.

“This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.”

DeSantis’s communications director, Bryan Griffin, offered additional details on how the site will proceed.

“Utilization of this facility for these purposes will not incur the removal of vegetation, additional paving, or permanent construction,” he said in a statement.

“On the existing airstrip, FDEM will utilize temporary buildings and shelters consistent with similar applications during natural disasters. Utilities such as water, sewage, and power will be facilitated by mobile equipment that will be removed at the completion of the mission.”

T.J. Muscaro and Emel Akan contributed to this report.