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3w ago

First Migrants Arrive at 'Alligator Alcatraz' Everglades Detention Camp

The state-funded facility is now receiving migrants under its 287(g) program; lawsuits question its impact on the Everglades ecosystem and tribal lands.

President Donald Trump tours "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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Beds are seen inside a migrant detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida on July 1.
President Donald Trump tours a South Florida migrant detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" in Ochopee, Florida on July 1, 2025.

Overview

  • First group of migrants arrived Wednesday night at “Alligator Alcatraz,” initiating operations under Florida’s 287(g) program with 3,000 initial beds and planned expansion to 5,000.
  • Constructed in eight days at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport using state emergency powers and projected to cost $450 million annually, the facility operates solely on state funds pending FEMA reimbursement and excludes direct DHS funding per a federal filing.
  • President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem toured the camp July 1, portraying its swampy terrain and wildlife as natural security measures and a model for future detention sites.
  • Secretary Noem’s account of a detained cannibal “eating himself” on a deportation flight has not been independently verified and has drawn scrutiny from federal sources.
  • Environmental and indigenous groups continue lawsuits and protests, arguing the site threatens the fragile Everglades ecosystem and occupies land tribes consider sacred.