TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — President Donald Trump is expected to be at the formal opening Tuesday of a controversial immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades that state leaders have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The Palm Beach Post reported Sunday that Federal Aviation Administration data indicated that Trump would be in South Florida for the opening. Two White House officials and a Florida official familiar with the travel confirmed to NBC News that Trump is “likely” to be there.
The facility is on a little-used airstrip in Miami-Dade County that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration seized using emergency powers to build a housing facility for undocumented migrants. DeSantis issued an emergency order focused on immigration in early 2023, and he has since then extended it multiple times. The measure gives him significant authority to take actions such as seizing land. Some local political leaders in Miami-Dade County opposed DeSantis’ taking the land for the Everglades-based detention center.
The facility, which was set up quickly — in roughly one week — by the DeSantis administration, was the brainchild of state Attorney General James Uthmeier, who is DeSantis’ former chief of staff and one of his top political advisers.
Environmental groups sued to block the plan Friday, arguing it could have devastating effects on the Everglades.
“The site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species,” Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Florida Everglades, which is among the groups suing, said in a statement. “This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.”
Hundreds of people also turned out Saturday for a protest against construction of the facility, which is expected to have 5,000 immigrant detention beds.
“Alligator Alcatraz” has been hyped as the highest-profile example of Florida’s push to be the state that most aggressively tries to align with Trump’s immigration agenda.
The facility is estimated to cost $450 million annually, and it has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security, which has said it is likely to reimburse the state for at least some costs associated with operation.
The facility has received significant national attention, resulting in a media and political boon for Uthmeier and DeSantis, who on Friday gave a tour of the facility to Fox News.
Beyond the significant national media attention, political fundraising is up for both Uthmeier and the Republican Party of Florida, which has started selling branded merchandise off the idea, NBC News reported Saturday.
