Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: What to Know

The new facility is expected to hold 1,000 illegal immigrants within 60 days of construction.

An isolated Everglades airfield about 45 miles west of Miami in a still from an undated video. Courtesy of the Office of Attorney General James Uthmeier via AP

Down in the Florida Everglades, state-level lawmakers and the Department of Homeland Security have decided to build a new detention center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house apprehended illegal immigrants awaiting processing and deportation.

Using Federal Emergency Management Administration funds, the facility is expected to hold up to 1,000 people and is touted as only the latest example of Florida’s dedication, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, to President Donald Trump’s policies to crack down on illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, the project has faced opposition from environmental groups over how the construction of the facility will ultimately affect the surrounding ecosystem, as well as resistance from local authorities. Emergency powers were triggered at the state level to override the local authorities and expedite the project, and state officials said the facility would have a minimal effect on the surrounding environment.

So as the creation of the facility nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” gets underway, here is what to know about it.

Where Will It Be Built?

Alligator Alcatraz will be built at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, an old, slightly used airstrip deep in the Everglades and roughly 36 miles south of Miami, in a town called Ochopee, Florida. It is owned by the Miami-Dade County government.

“Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport was originally the Everglades Jetport,” Miami International Airport states on its website. “The initial runway at the site was planned as the replacement runway for Miami International Airport to serve South Florida, but environmental concerns in the late 1970s to early 1980s stopped further development of the facility.”

Only approximately 900 acres of the 24,960-acre property is considered developed and operational land, including one runway measuring 10,499 feet long and 150 feet wide, capable of receiving both small and large aircraft. DeSantis’s communications director, Bryan Griffin, said in a recent email that the predeveloped area will be used to support temporary buildings.

“On the existing airstrip, [Florida Division of Emergency Management] will utilize temporary buildings and shelters consistent with similar applications during natural disasters,” he said. ”Utilities such as water, sewage, and power will be facilitated by mobile equipment that will be removed at the completion of the mission. ... Operations on site will be completely self-contained.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who first coined the term “Alligator Alcatraz,” said he sees the landing strip’s immersion within the alligator-populated Florida Everglades as a key strategic incentive to choosing the site.

“You don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter,” he said in a video posted to social media platform X on June 19. “People get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.”

At that time, he also said that within 60 days of the start of construction, the facility would be able to house up to 1,000 criminal illegal immigrants.

How Much Will It Cost, Affect the Everglades?

Alligator Alcatraz is expected to cost about $450 million per year. Plans were drafted and submitted to the Department of Homeland Security by the Florida Division of Emergency Management and received Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s approval on June 23.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed to deliver cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” she said on X.

“We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”

Noem contrasted the Trump administration’s use of the Federal Emergency Management Administration funds to the Biden administration’s use of the same funds to house illegal immigrants in hotels, “including at the Roosevelt Hotel that served as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to shelter Laken Riley’s killer.”

Noem was referring to José Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who entered the country illegally in 2022 and murdered Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, in Athens, Georgia, in February 2024.

When word got out about Florida’s plans to put a new ICE detention facility in the Everglades, it triggered concerns about there being further development in the famous wetlands. However, Griffin said, “Utilization of this facility for these purposes will not incur the removal of vegetation, additional paving, or permanent construction.”

Why Florida?

Under DeSantis’s leadership, and that of a Republican supermajority in both state chambers, Florida has emerged as a leader in immigration enforcement and become the first state to pass its own legislation aligned with Trump’s second administration on the issue.

That legislation, passed and signed into law during a special session shortly after Trump’s inauguration, instituted several new policies concerning illegal immigrants, including the mandate that state and local law enforcement agencies comply and cooperate with ICE agents in apprehending illegal immigrants.

Since that legislation was passed, more than 1,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested in operations conducted by ICE and Florida’s law enforcement.

The state’s leadership said Alligator Alcatraz is the latest development of that cooperation with the federal government.

“I’m proud to help support President Trump and Secretary Noem in their mission to fix our illegal immigration problem once and for all,” Uthmeier wrote on X in response to Noem’s approval of the project. “Alligator Alcatraz and other Florida facilities will do just that.

“We in Florida will fight alongside this administration to keep Florida safe, strong, and free.”

However, in order for these plans to commence, Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie had to invoke emergency powers to obtain the airport from the Miami-Dade County government.

Why Were State Emergency Powers Necessary?

According to Griffin, the state government attempted to buy the airport from Miami-Dade County for $20 million, but the county mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, came back with a counteroffer of $190 million, which DeSantis’s office called “unreasonable.”

In response, Guthrie issued an emergency order opening the airport for immediate use for Alligator Alcatraz, in which he said, “Governor DeSantis authorized the State Coordinating Officer to suspend the effect of any statute, rule, or order that would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay any mitigation, response, or recovery action necessary to respond to this emergency.”

Guthrie also submitted a letter to Cava, stating: “While the negotiations to purchase the property are underway, the division will begin immediate utilization of the improved area of the site, as I now deem it necessary to meet the division’s current operational demands in coping with the emergency.

“Time is of the essence. We must act swiftly to ensure readiness and continuity in our statewide operations to assist the federal government with immigration enforcement.”

Cava has since responded, recognizing the state government’s authority to step in but expressing concern for how quickly developments are proceeding. She also emphasized the need for her county to be paid what that land was worth, E.W. Scripps reported.