"Alligator Alcatraz": Fury Erupts Over DeSantis-Backed Migrant Camp in the Florida Everglades
A wave of outrage is crashing over Florida's new migrant detention camp, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by critics — and it's not hard to see why. Environmental activists, immigration advocates, and the Miccosukee Tribe are uniting in fierce opposition to what they call an inhumane and dangerous prison camp in the heart of the Florida Everglades.
This controversial facility is being fast-tracked at an abandoned training airfield, deep in swamp territory, to support the Trump administration’s aggressive plan to arrest and detain 3,000 undocumented migrants every day. Built with Florida taxpayer money and federal homeland security funds, it’s one of several new ICE detention sites popping up across the U.S. amid a surge in immigration arrests.
What’s being built?
A tent city capable of housing 5,000 people, surrounded by gators, pythons, mosquitoes, and humid 100°F+ heat. Set to open in early July, the camp has already been slammed as a “cruel spectacle” by Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost.
The DeSantis administration seized the 39-square-mile site from Miami-Dade County using emergency powers, triggering backlash from multiple corners of society. Critics say the project is a nightmare cocktail of environmental harm, cultural disrespect, and human rights violations.
“Swamp Creatures” & Brutal Conditions
James Uthmeier, Florida’s hardline attorney general, made light of the concerns in a tone many called mocking. “We believe in the swamp down here in Florida. We are swamp creatures,” he joked on a conservative podcast. He touted the natural landscape — alligators and all — as built-in security.
According to Uthmeier, the 11,000-foot runway at the site is ideal for receiving planeloads of ICE detainees from across the country. He brushed off environmental concerns, despite being held in civil contempt by a federal judge for enforcing an immigration law that had been blocked.
Native Tribe & Eco-Warriors Push Back
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians blasted the project for desecrating sacred ancestral lands in the Big Cypress National Preserve. They drew parallels to the forcible removal of Native Americans in the 1800s and urged the state to move the camp elsewhere.
Talbert Cypress, the tribe's chair, emphasized the camp’s massive toll on both taxpayer dollars and tribal lands:
“The state would save substantial taxpayer dollars by pursuing its goals at a different location with more existing infrastructure and less environmental and cultural impacts.”
Meanwhile, environmental groups like Friends of the Everglades and leaders like Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava are raising red flags. The mayor warned of a “devastating impact to the Everglades”, threatening decades of billion-dollar restoration efforts.
Eve Samples, director of Friends of the Everglades, recalled how the same site was rejected in the 1960s when it was nearly turned into a mega jetport.
“These are valuable and protected wetlands. Whether temporary or not, a facility like this brings severe water, sewage, and traffic consequences,” she said.
Cruelty as Policy?
Immigration advocates see the Everglades camp as a disturbing escalation of Ron DeSantis’s alignment with Trump’s immigration crackdown. The Tampa Bay Times reported another facility is being developed at Camp Blanding, near Jacksonville — confirming fears that this isn’t a one-off.
Thomas Kennedy from the Florida Immigrant Coalition didn’t mince words:
“They chose the most controversial site possible — right in the Everglades, during hurricane season, with no proper infrastructure, just tents in sweltering heat, surrounded by mosquitoes, snakes, and gators. This is about one thing: suffering.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost joined the chorus of criticism, calling Uthmeier a Trump sycophant and the entire Everglades project “disgusting”.
“Trump, his administration, and his enablers want to use government power to kidnap, starve, and brutalize immigrants,” he said.
“They don’t care if people live or die — they only care about cruelty and spectacle.”
Discription:
"Florida’s plan to build a massive migrant detention camp in the Everglades — dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — is drawing fiery backlash from environmentalists, tribal leaders, and immigration activists who slam it as inhumane, unsafe, and environmentally disastrous."