Trump Administration Will Help Fund Florida's $450 Million 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Other Migrant De

[rangerrebew]

Trump Administration Will Help Fund Florida's $450 Million 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Other Migrant Detention Facilities
The Florida attorney general stated that the facilities will add 5,000 beds and be operational as early as the first week of July.
Autumn Billings | 6.24.2025 5:14 PM

 
The Trump administration has approved funding for Florida to build migrant detention centers to house 5,000 detainees. Among the projects approved is "Alligator Alcatraz," a proposed facility located on a 30-square-mile abandoned airfield in the Everglades. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on Monday that the facility will start receiving detainees by the first week of July.

But not everyone is on board. Democratic Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has opposed Uthmeier's plans to build Alligator Alcatraz on the Miami-Dade–owned portion of the property. "Due to the location of this parcel in a critical area, the conveyance of this parcel requires considerable review and due diligence," Levine Cava said in a letter to Florida's emergency management director, reports the Miami Herald. The mayor's letter outlined concerns about the project, requesting a detailed analysis of potential environmental impacts on the Everglades ecosystem and an updated appraisal of the land. State officials offered to purchase the site for $20 million from Miami-Dade County and Collier County, but county appraisals from May valued the land at $195 million. The appraisal also "lays out development challenges for the property, which it describes as almost entirely wetlands," according to the Herald.
 
While negotiations continue, companies and state officers have already entered the property and begun construction. Under emergency powers extended by Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over illegal immigration since 2023, the governor can commandeer the country-run airfield, as conceded by Levine Cava.

https://reason.com/2025/06/24/trump-administration-will-help-fund-floridas-450-million-alligator-alcatraz-and-other-migrant-detention-facilities/

[rangerrebew]

I hate to be a deportation party pooper, but what do they plan to do with the "detainees" when a hurricane comes through the Everglades and a general evacuation is ordered for the area?

[Fishrrman]

From the article:
"State officials offered to purchase the site for $20 million from Miami-Dade County and Collier County, but county appraisals from May valued the land at $195 million."

Condemn it under eminent domain, and take it for a couple million more than 20.

Once it's built, perhaps it can take in federal detainees as well, awaiting deportation or further disposition. Perhaps as a jumping-off point to Guantanamo.

[Wingnut]

From the article:
"State officials offered to purchase the site for $20 million from Miami-Dade County and Collier County, but county appraisals from May valued the land at $195 million."

Condemn it under eminent domain, and take it for a couple million more than 20.

This falls under the I've got some Florida  beach front property for sale...cheap  Turns out Collier county has a bunch of swamp land they want to scam the Gov with.

[DefiantMassRINO]

If they crossed into America without a visa or approved assylum, don't detain them; put them directly on a plane back to their country of origin.  What legal standing would they have against deportation since their entry into the US was not legal?

Every second they are in the US is a second they could get a reprieve from the Federal Judge Roulette wheel.