By early July, federal and Florida officials intend to establish up to 5,000 immigration prison beds at the Alligator Alcatraz airport in the Everglades and possibly at a National Guard training site in the state’s north.
The state-run detention facilities would alleviate county prisons dealing with a surge of deportable inmates, Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday.
As state leaders want to vigorously support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, the governor suggested that Camp Blanding, a Florida National Guard training facility southwest of Jacksonville, could be used as an additional detention facility.
In Tampa, DeSantis stated that it would be a force multiplier. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will benefit. It will assist local and state law enforcement in reducing the strain on their resources.
In a move that angered Democrats and raised environmental concerns due to its location in the Everglades, a region that Florida and the federal government have spent billions of dollars attempting to restore, DeSantis used emergency powers earlier this week to seize an airfield owned by Miami-Dade County for a detention facility called Alligator Alcatraz.
In 2023, DeSantis expanded his authority to deploy state and municipal resources by declaring illegal immigration to be an emergency.
In addition to claiming that any escapee would have to contend with pythons and alligators in the nearby marshes, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier hailed the proposed Everglades prison as the one-stop shop to implement President Trump’s mass deportation strategy.
According to a U.S. official, housing inmates will cost $245 per bed per day, or roughly $450 million annually. Florida may apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for reimbursement. According to federal officials, FEMA’s shelter and services program has approximately $625 million available for the endeavor.
The facilities, which are made of sturdy tents and trailers, have been characterized by officials as temporary. Old FEMA trailers will be used to house facility employees. Officials from the National Guard will assist in managing the facilities.
Those apprehended under the 287(g) program, which permits state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law, would be considered detainees. Transferring detainees to the custody of Florida will also be an option for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Authorities in Central Florida are worried that an increase in arrests linked to immigration may cause jails to overflow. The Orange County Jail, which has roughly 4,000 beds, was holding 3,111 inmates on Wednesday morning. An ICE detainer was present for 238 prisoners.
Since Trump’s return to office, Central Florida has seen a sharp increase in immigration arrests. For instance, Orange booked over 800 individuals on ICE detainers within its jail throughout the entire year 2024. The 2025 count reached 1,314 at the end of May.
Democrats, notably Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the Miccosukee Tribe, and environmentalists have all opposed the Everglades project. The project may harm the Everglades, according to conservationists. Talbert Cypress, the chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, stated that he is against the construction of a prison facility on the tribe’s ancestral grounds.
In a statement, U.S. Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost attacked the Alligator Alcatraz proposal, claiming it prioritizes spectacle and cruelty over humanity.
The Orlando Democrat claimed that they target migrants, split up families, and put individuals through physical and psychological torture in what can only be called hellish conditions. Under the blazing Everglades sun, they now want to set up tents and call it immigration enforcement.
Environmental concerns were rejected by DeSantis, who claimed that there would be no effect.
He claimed that they are attempting to use the Everglades as a pretext simply because they are against immigration enforcement. You are now on the far-left.
Florida officials sent a 37-page immigration enforcement plan to the federal government last month, which included the establishment of 10,000-person detention facilities in the state’s northeast and south-central regions.
According to the idea, the possible sites would mostly be close to airports to facilitate a smooth detention and deportation procedure.
