"Alligator Alcatraz": Florida's Everglades Migrant Detention Center Sparks Controversy

 

In a dramatic move aligned with former President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations, Florida officials have begun construction on a controversial migrant detention center deep in the Everglades. Dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, the facility is being touted as both cost-effective and naturally secure—thanks to the surrounding swamps filled with alligators, snakes, and other wildlife.

A Detention Center in the Wild

The facility is being constructed at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a long-unused airstrip located 36 miles west of downtown Miami and just north of Everglades National Park. The area spans roughly 39 square miles and includes an 11,000-foot runway.

According to Uthmeier, the remote swamp location offers a unique security benefit: “If people get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons,” he said in a video announcement. The video promoted the site as a key part of a broader immigration enforcement effort and featured slow-motion footage of snapping alligators to reinforce the message.

Construction will involve "light infrastructure" including tents and trailers, with the goal of being operational by the first week of July. Uthmeier also confirmed the National Guard will help operate the facility and that the federal government has signed off on Florida’s plan to add 5,000 additional detention beds across several locations—“Alligator Alcatraz” being one of them.

Backing from Federal Officials

The initiative aligns with broader federal goals to increase immigration enforcement. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised Florida’s approach, calling it “cost-effective and innovative” in a social media post. She noted that much of the funding would come from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, which had previously been used under the Biden administration for humanitarian support.

Uthmeier promised that detainees would receive fair legal proceedings, adding, “We’ll give them the due process that all these courts say they need.”

This expansion follows recent efforts to send detainees to locations such as Guantanamo Bay and El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison as the administration targets at least 3,000 immigration-related arrests daily.

Environmental Alarm Bells

Despite government backing, the project has sparked fierce opposition from environmentalists. The Everglades, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most ecologically fragile regions in the country, is home to countless endangered species and plays a vital role in Florida’s water system.

On Sunday, Friends of the Everglades staged a protest and released a public letter condemning the project. They warned that construction on the site could reopen the door to environmentally destructive development in the region.

“This land is critical to the future of the Everglades,” the letter reads. “Don’t open the door to development in one of America’s most fragile and iconic ecosystems.”

Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, pointed out that this isn’t the first time the land has faced high-stakes development plans. In the late 1960s, it was proposed as the site for the massive Everglades Jetport—an airport project abandoned after only one runway was completed due to concerns it would decimate the local ecosystem.

“It’s really ironic that the state attorney general is calling this an abandoned site,” Samples said. “It was abandoned because the people of Florida fought to protect it decades ago—and now we’re doing it again.”

A Clash of Priorities

The “Alligator Alcatraz” project highlights the ongoing tension between aggressive immigration enforcement policies and environmental protection. As construction moves forward at rapid speed, critics argue that the short-term political aims of the project could lead to long-term ecological damage.

Whether this remote detention center becomes a model for future facilities—or a cautionary tale—will likely depend on how public opinion, the legal system, and environmental oversight evolve in the weeks to come. What’s certain is that the battle over the Everglades is far from over.