Florida seizes airfield for ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Gov. Ron DeSantis is using emergency powers to seize an airfield in the Florida Everglades and make a proposed “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center a reality, administration officials said Tuesday.
The move sparked outrage from Democrats who called it a “land grab” that could inflict environmental damage to one of the state’s natural wonders.
State officials confirmed they are commandeering the Miami-Dade County-owned facility as part of their efforts to aid the federal government’s immigration crackdown. They have said it should be operational early next month.
Part of the site’s appeal, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said, is that it is surrounded by alligators and pythons, a deterrent to anyone seeking to escape.
Florida law outlines sweeping powers available in a state of emergency, including the governor’s ability to use and deploy all available county and local resources. DeSantis deemed illegal immigration to be an emergency in a 2023 order that was subsequently extended and remains in effect.
Though negotiations to purchase the land continue, the state will immediately begin using the site to meet “operational demands,” according to a letter dated Monday that state Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie sent to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“Time is of the essence,” Guthrie wrote. “We must act swiftly to ensure readiness and continuity in our statewide operations to assist the federal government with immigration enforcement.”
The airfield named the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport sits deep in the Everglades far removed from the bustle of the Miami metro area.
On Tuesday, a lone officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sat in an air-conditioned sport-utility vehicle at the entrance of the airstrip, allowing a handful of trucks carrying what appeared to be work equipment onto the site. Among the equipment was various vertical light towers, often used for construction work or events.
Last week, Uthmeier unveiled the proposed 1,000-bed detention center in a one-minute video he posted on social media. In a podcast interview Monday, Uthmeier said the proposal had received federal approval.
State officials offered $20 million to purchase the airfield property near the Dade-Collier county line, according to a letter of intent sent to Miami-Dade and Collier counties.
Levine Cava, the Dade county mayor, responded that the most recent appraisal had valued it to be worth at least $190 million. She also voiced concerns about the potential for “devastating” environmental impacts and asked for more information on public safety safeguards.
In a statement, DeSantis officials called Levine Cava’s response an “unreasonable counteroffer,” which led to the decision to use the emergency powers.
“Utilization of this facility for these purposes will not incur the removal of vegetation, additional paving, or permanent construction,” the statement from the governor’s office read. “On the existing airstrip, FDEM will utilize temporary buildings and shelters consistent with similar applications during natural disasters.”
State officials added that water, sewage, and power will be provided by mobile equipment that will be removed at the end of their mission.
It’ll cost the state about $450 million a year to operate the detention center with the ability to request some reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, The New York Times and Miami Herald reported. Federal officials did not independently confirm that figure to the Orlando Sentinel.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a prepared statement. “We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”
New detention facilities will in large part be funded by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, she added. That program was authorized by Congress to support communities providing services to migrants.
The Everglades facility is part of Florida’s broader immigration enforcement plan that calls for detention centers in the south-central and northeastern regions of the state capable of holding 10,000 people.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried blasted the latest move as an overreach.
“This proposed detention center isn’t just cruel, it’s environmentally catastrophic,” she said in a statement. “This facility would desecrate ecologically critical wetlands … and transform one of the world’s most cherished ecosystems into a prison camp for political gain.”
At a meeting Tuesday morning, Collier County commissioners appeared to have been caught off guard by the state’s plans for the Everglades airfield. They questioned what would happen if a hurricane threatened the detention center’s temporary structures in a remote and flood-prone part of the state. Though the property is in Collier County, it is owned and operated by Miami-Dade through an agreement, said Dan Summers, Collier’s director of emergency management.
The runway was part of the Everglades Jetport project, which aimed to build a massive airport that would serve South Florida and the Gulf coast. Construction ultimately was halted during the 1970s amid environmental concerns.
Summers told county commissioners that local law enforcement was only recently brought into the fold. He said he was aware of a February site visit and only saw news of the Alligator Alcatraz proposal this past week.
“This was, as of Saturday, investigatory only,” he told commissioners. “It went from investigatory to assets being deployed with my next follow-up call. I have to be careful about not biting the hand that feeds me, but I, too, am disappointed in the absence of a courtesy call on this.”
Commissioner William L. McDaniel Jr. said he was left out of the loop about plans for the airfield in his district, leading him to dismiss its feasibility during an interview with a local reporter.
“Now, we are all learning this isn’t a pipe dream,” he said.
The main roadway to the airstrip, Tamiami Trail, is punctuated by the odd airboat tour provider and rustic frog-leg-serving lunch spot.
Outside its entrance, the airfield’s gate remained open Tuesday.
But if the property has been used for unofficial recreation in the past, those days would appear to be over: The FWC officer turned away a man trying to get onto the property with his son, pulling two ATVs behind him on a trailer.
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