TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — President Donald Trump visited the opening of the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility on Tuesday.
Governor Ron DeSantis welcomed him with a tour of the facility.
DeSantis announced on Friday the new migrant detention center located deep in the Everglades will begin housing detainees as early as this week. The controversial facility is already under construction on the site of a nearly abandoned Miami-Dade County airport.
WATCH: President Trump and Gov. DeSantis at "Alligator Alcatraz"
United States Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) responded Tuesday by saying, “DeSantis’ internment camp puts decades of massive restoration and billions of dollars in Everglades investments at risk. It desecrates the tribal lands it sits upon and wastes hundreds of millions of state funding at a grossly inflated cost.”
WATCH: Governor DeSantis talk about the new deportation facility in the Everglades
Gubernatorial candidate David Jolly on Monday dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" as "a callous political stunt." He added "Florida’s most pressing challenge is the housing affordability crisis created by Republican leaders, not immigrants working to support our state’s economy."
On Saturday, the official Department of Homeland Security X account posted an AI-generated photo of the soon-to-be-built facility, featuring alligators representing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Coming soon! pic.twitter.com/v3DCJsrDwV
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 28, 2025
It's been one year since Hurricane Milton impacted our community. Tampa Bay 28 revisited some of Tampa Bay's hardest hit areas to show the recovery and the work that still needs to be done.
