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yesterday

Critics Warn of Dangers at Florida’s 'Alligator Alcatraz' Migrant Camp

Legal challenges intensify over building the camp on protected wetlands that serve as a hurricane evacuation corridor.

President Donald Trump speaks with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem as they tour a migrant detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," in Ochopee, Florida, July 1, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
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Environmental advocates and protesters at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on Tamiami Trail E, Ochopee, on Saturday, June 28, 2025, object to the “Alligator Alcatraz” being built at the facility. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
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Overview

  • State officials opened the facility on July 1 and have filled about 3,000 of its 5,000-person capacity with migrants housed in tents at the Dade-Collier site.
  • Advocates report daily temperatures of 90°F to 100°F, storm flooding in flimsy shelters and unknown medical histories that heighten human rights and health risks.
  • Environmental and tribal groups have sued, alleging the rapid build violated federal review laws and infringed on Miccosukee and Seminole sacred lands.
  • Former Bureau of Prisons director Hugh Hurwitz warned that staffing shortages and the lack of detainee medical records make secure, humane operation logistically unworkable.
  • The camp carries a projected $450 million annual price tag and has been turned into a political spectacle with Trump, DeSantis and the Florida GOP selling branded merchandise as part of a hard-line deportation push.