Trump Administration Expands Detention Capacity by 5,000 Beds in Florida Everglades

The Trump administration is on the verge of activating a 5,000-bed detention center in a remote and ecologically sensitive area of the Florida Everglades. The facility, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by local officials, is being constructed to support the federal government's immigration crackdown, which has led to a record-high number of detentions. The site, located at an isolated airfield surrounded by swamplands filled with mosquitoes, pythons, and alligators, is expected to be operational by early July.

Florida officials have been racing to build the compound, which consists of heavy-duty tents, trailers, and temporary buildings similar to those used during natural disasters. The harsh conditions surrounding the airstrip, including its nearly 10,500-foot runway, make it an ideal location for housing and transporting migrants, according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. Uthmeier, a key architect of the state's aggressive immigration enforcement campaign, has stated that the facility will help operationalize 5,000 immigration detention beds by early July.

The Trump administration aims to more than double its existing 41,000 beds for detaining migrants to at least 100,000 beds. A tax-cutting and budget reconciliation bill approved last month by the U.S. House of Representatives includes $45 billion over four years for immigrant detention, a threefold spending increase. The Senate is now considering that legislation.

Environmentalists and human rights advocates have expressed alarm over the construction of the facility, citing concerns about the fragile ecosystem and the inhumane treatment of detainees. The site is surrounded by Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, and activists have rallied to halt what they describe as a state-backed "heist." Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost condemned the detention center, calling its apparent use of alligators as a security measure a "cruel spectacle."

Maria Asuncion Bilbao, Florida campaign coordinator at American Friends Service Committee, an immigration advocacy group, warned that the health and safety of detainees are being put at risk. "What’s happening is very concerning, the level of dehumanization," Bilbao said. "It’s like a theatricalization of cruelty." Bilbao also expressed concerns about the health risks of the heat and mosquitoes, and the challenges the remoteness of the site presents to community members hoping to protest or monitor activities there.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have applauded the effort and the agency’s “partnership with Florida.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the new facility will be funded in large part by the Shelter and Services Program within the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which is best known for responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters. "We are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal aliens," said Noem in a written statement. "We will expand facilities and bed space in just days."

Managing the facility “via a team of vendors” will cost $245 a bed per day or approximately $450 million a year. The expenses will be incurred by Florida and reimbursed by FEMA, which has a $625 million shelter and service program fund. Immigrants arrested by Florida law enforcement officers under the federal 287 (g) program will be held at the facility, as well as immigrants in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Under the revived 287 (g) program, local and state law enforcement officers can interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.

Agencies across all 67 Florida counties have signed more than 280 such agreements, more than a third of the 720 agreements ICE have reached nationwide. Florida is using emergency powers to build the site, commandeering the land under an executive order issued by Governor Ron DeSantis during the administration of then-President Joe Biden to respond to what the governor deemed a crisis caused by illegal immigration. By relying on executive orders, the state is able to sidestep purchasing laws and fast-track the project, which Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried has said amounts to an abuse of power.