Overview

• The camp at Dade-Collier airport was built in eight days to hold 3,000 migrants at an annual cost of $450 million.
• During a July 12 tour, Democrats described “vile” conditions—32 men per cage, 83°F heat and grasshopper swarms—and later sued after being denied entry on opening day.
• Republican legislators on the same visit praised clean, air-conditioned quarters and dismissed criticism as exaggerated political theater.
• DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed ongoing talks with five Republican governors to develop detention centers modeled on the Everglades facility.
• Environmental and Indigenous groups have filed suit over damage to protected wetlands even as the administration ramps up daily immigration arrests under President Trump’s directive.