In a new development in the current administration’s federal immigration enforcement, a new detention facility has been constructed in Florida’s swampy Everglades. Nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” by Florida attorney general James Uthmeier, the facility has been established at a decommissioned airport spanning 39 square miles of the Florida Everglades. Detainees will be surveilled by more than 200 security cameras and 400 security personnel, while enclosed within 28,000-plus feet of barbed wire. It is estimated that the detention center will hold a capacity of 5,000 beds by early July, and will cost $450 million annually.
Federal officials toured Alligator Alcatraz on Tuesday, July 1, claiming the site “might be as good as the real Alcatraz”. Its location, however, differs from Alcatraz’s mild climate: the area is extremely hot and humid, and surrounded by marshlands that house Burmese pythons, crocodiles, mosquitoes, and, of course, alligators. Some have referenced the proximity to dangerous wildlife as a reason for placing a detention center there, with Florida state officials citing the facility’s isolation and invoking comparisons to the notorious prison fortress in their public statements.
In recent weeks, merchandise referencing “Alligator Alcatraz” has surfaced on both political websites and commercial platforms, sparking further controversy over the messaging and imagery surrounding the facility. Shirts, beverage coolers, and hats featuring the words “Alligator Alcatraz” and a building in a swamp with an alligator and snake are being sold on various websites. Vendors on Amazon are also selling Alligator Alcatraz shirts and hats, complete with images of alligators with guns, sunbathing alligators, or even alligators behind bars.
Immigrant rights organizations have raised serious concerns regarding oversight and transparency. Mark Fleming, the associate director of federal litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said the detention center is outside the scope of the federal government, and stated that the center risks becoming an “independent, unaccountable detention system.” He also noted that there was no clear plan for medical staffing and other services, in “callous disregard for the health and safety of the human beings they intend to imprison there.”
Environmental organizations, including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, have filed a lawsuit challenging the facility’s construction. The groups sued Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons, Executive Director of Florida Division of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie, and Miami-Dade County on the grounds that Florida officials and the federal government have avoided environmental regulations to build the facility. The lawsuit, filed on Friday, June 27, claims that the facility was erected in protected ecological areas, including the Big Cypress National Preserve, which Florida has devoted millions of dollars to protecting, and its construction began without environmental review or public opinion.
Indigenous groups have expressed concerns since Alligator Alcatraz has been built on sacred land. Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Business Council, told ABC News that the facility is surrounded by the Big Cypress, where his tribe has lived for centuries. Not only that, but some tribal villages are located a mere 900 feet from the facility’s entrance. He pointed to a lack of environmental studies about the detention center’s impact on the local ecosystem, as well as fearing for traditional Native camps’ safety as traffic and flights increase through the area.
As litigation proceeds and public scrutiny grows, Alligator Alcatraz has become a flashpoint in ongoing debates over immigration policy, environmental protection, and Indigenous rights. While some portray the facility as a necessary expansion of detention capacity, critics continue to raise urgent questions about accountability, legal authority, and the human and ecological costs of such an approach.
