FLORIDA — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has invoked emergency powers to seize a remote Miami-Dade airport, moving forward with plans to build a temporary immigration detention and deportation center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
WATCH: Florida takes control of area deemed 'Alligator Alcatraz' under emergency order
The project will transform the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport — a largely inactive site deep in the Florida Everglades — into a holding center for as many as 5,000 detainees. Officials say the site’s isolation, surrounded by wetlands and wildlife, offers a natural barrier ideal for containment. But the controversial plan has sparked fierce backlash from environmentalists and elected officials alike.
“This is an old, virtually abandoned airport facility right in the middle of the Everglades,” said Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ former chief of staff and the architect of the project. He promoted the plan on social media, jokingly referring to the location as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
"This 30 square mile area is completely surrounded by the Everglades and it presents a efficient, low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility, because you don't need to invest that much in the perimeter,” Uthmeier said in the post. "People get out, there's not much waiting for them, other than alligators and pythons."
A letter from Florida’s Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava stated that “time is of the essence” and construction would begin immediately under a 2023 emergency declaration on immigration. The facility, officials say, will support the state’s effort to enforce federal deportation mandates more aggressively than any other state.
Read the letter from FDEM director Kevin Guthrie
Flordia DEM letter by ABC Action News on Scribd
Despite the state's claims of minimal environmental impact, groups like Friends of the Everglades are sounding the alarm. Executive Director Eve Samples called the site’s selection “deeply ironic,” noting that the airport was previously abandoned in part due to public opposition in the 1970s — the very origins of her organization.
“Thousands of people have responded with really strong opposition to this idea,” said Samples.
Local and federal Democrats have also condemned the project. U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost (D-FL 10) called it “a cruel spectacle,” while State Representative Dan Daley (D-Coral Springs) accused Uthmeier of using it as a campaign stunt to hold onto his job.
Mayor Cava said her office is reviewing the legality of the state's actions and consulting with the FAA, noting that the site still holds active airport status. While litigation could be an option for the county, no immediate legal challenge has been announced.
As plans move forward, the timeline to open the facility is estimated to take one to two months for construction.
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