Overview

• President Trump visited the newly opened ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ on July 1 as the remote facility began processing migrants for detention and deportation.
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis authorized conversion of the abandoned Dade-Collier airstrip under emergency powers, with federal funds from FEMA’s Shelter and Services program expected to cost $450 million annually.
• State officials highlighted surrounding alligators and pythons as natural security features in lieu of conventional fencing for the ICE-run, tent-based center.
• The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Everglades and tribal groups filed suit citing threats to endangered species and sacred lands, and protesters have staged demonstrations along U.S. Highway 41.
• The site forms part of President Trump’s broader deportation agenda that includes daily arrest targets of 3,000 migrants and prior transfers of detainees to Guantánamo Bay.