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4d ago

Deportation Flights Begin at Alligator Alcatraz as Florida Seeks FEMA Reimbursement

Legal challenges have emerged over a DACA recipient’s transfer to Glades County Jail without formal deportation charges

An aerial view shows "Alligator Alcatraz" ICE detention center at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, U.S. July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla.
An inside look at Alligator Alcatraz, Florida's immigration detention center.
Aerial view of structures, including gigantic tents built at the recently opened migrant detention center, “Alligator Alcatraz,” located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS)

Overview

  • The Department of Homeland Security launched regular deportation flights from the makeshift camp at Dade-Collier airstrip on July 25, removing hundreds of migrants since operations began.
  • Alligator Alcatraz opened in early July with capacity for about 2,000 detainees and plans to double its beds to 4,000, leveraging its remote Everglades location and on-site runway to speed removals.
  • Florida officials are applying for up to $450 million in annual operating cost reimbursement through FEMA’s new $608 million Detention Support Grant Program, with states able to apply until August 8.
  • Attorneys for a Central Florida DACA recipient have challenged his transfer from the camp to Glades County Jail without formal deportation charges, filing motions for his release and habeas corpus petitions.
  • The facility has drawn lawsuits and protests over environmental impact, indigenous rights, detainee access to counsel and hurricane evacuation planning as it serves as a prototype for similar state-led detention centers.