Overview

• The facility erected in eight days at Dade-Collier Training Airport houses about 747 migrants, only one-third of whom have criminal convictions and over 250 face solely civil immigration violations.
• Florida has advanced $450 million under its Jan. 6, 2023 immigration emergency declaration and plans to seek FEMA reimbursement for the camp’s costs.
• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem maintains DHS did not authorize or fund the site yet is in talks with at least five Republican-led states to replicate the model.
• Environmental groups and Miccosukee and Seminole tribes have filed lawsuits over wetlands and tribal land impacts, while civil rights advocates challenge reported conditions and limited legal access.
• Detainees and attorneys describe overcrowded metal cages, sweltering tents, maggot-infested meals and denied visits, allegations that Florida officials uniformly reject.