In the middle of Florida’s swamplands, the state is now building a new migrant detention center. According to the authorities, nature’s own predators will contribute to security—and make the facility both cheap and effective.
The new facility, informally known as “Alligator Alcatraz”, is being built at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a defunct airport facility 36 miles west of Miami. The site is surrounded by wetlands and swampy areas that are home to alligators, pythons, and other predators.
– You don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. If people get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons, said Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in a presentation video.
The video describes the detention center as key to implementing President Trump’s plan for mass deportations, accompanied by slow-motion clips of attacking alligators.
Uthmeier calls the project “cost-effective” and describes the area as “an old, virtually abandoned airport facility right in the middle of the Everglades”. According to information from the Department of Homeland Security, the facility is expected to cost the state approximately $450 million per year to operate. He has also confirmed that the Florida National Guard will participate in the operation of the center, which will consist of lighter infrastructure such as tents and trailers.
Alligator Alcatraz: the one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda. pic.twitter.com/96um2IXE7U
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) June 19, 2025
“Cost-effective and innovative”
The facility is scheduled to be completed in the first week of July and will be one of several temporary facilities that Florida is setting up to meet the increasing strain on the federal system. According to Uthmeier, the federal government has approved the state’s plans to create 5,000 detention places in Florida as early as this summer.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called the initiative “cost-effective and innovative” in a post on X, highlighting the collaboration with Florida as an example of how capacity can be expanded in a matter of days. The state’s offer to purchase the land from Miami-Dade County for $20 million is based on an executive order from Governor Ron DeSantis and an emergency order from the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
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. We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our…
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) June 24, 2025
The Minister of Justice assures that the rule of law will be upheld.
– We will give them the legal process that the courts say they are entitled to, Uthmeier said in an interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
Environmental activists are furious
However, the initiative has drawn criticism from political opponents, particularly environmental activists and groups advocating mass immigration. Friends of the Everglades, which took part in a protest against the construction over the weekend, has warned in an open letter that the project threatens an ecologically sensitive area.
The group calls the site “critical to the future of the Everglades” and warns against opening it up to development in what it describes as one of America’s most iconic and vulnerable ecosystems.
– It really strikes you as a clueless idea that was off the cuff, the group’s executive director, Eve Samples, told CNN. She also pointed out that the same site was the subject of protests back in the 1970s, when plans for a huge airport were halted after massive public opposition.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has also expressed concern about the project.
– We continue to have significant concerns about the scope and scale of the state’s effort, particularly regarding the environmental safeguards, she said in a statement, warning that the rapid pace of implementation leaves little time for reflection and risk assessment.
