Overview

• Construction is underway at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport with heavy-duty tents and trailers expected to shelter up to 5,000 migrants within weeks.
• The annual operating cost is estimated at $450 million—about $245 per bed per day—and will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
• Governor Ron DeSantis used state emergency authority to seize the county-owned site after purchase talks collapsed, prompting legal and political challenges from Miami-Dade officials.
• Environmentalists and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava warn the project endangers the Everglades ecosystem and could strain local water resources.
• State leaders are also weighing a second detention site at Camp Blanding to further expand capacity for ICE detainees and relieve overcrowded jails.