DeSantis beams as Trump praises Alligator Alcatraz, ICE relationship with Florida
President Donald Trump took a tour of the facility in the Florida Everglades and then attended a roundtable where he praised the state and 'friends' like Gov. Ron DeSantis.
- The visit comes amid rising concerns about detention center capacity and legal challenges from environmental groups.
- The facility's location in the Everglades has sparked protests and criticism due to environmental and humanitarian concerns.
- The Florida GOP is selling "Alligator Alcatraz" merchandise.
- The center is built on the site of a former airport and is near Big Cypress National Preserve.
Gov. Ron DeSantis beamed as President Donald Trump touted Florida's starring role in a contentious nationwide immigration crackdown that culminated with the July 1 opening of the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center.
Trump arrived for a late morning tour of the facility at the training jetport in the heart of Florida's fabled Everglades with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
In remarks before beginning his visit at the facility, which would accept the first wave of detainees after the president departed, Trump restated the administration's priority remains capturing and removing "the worst of the worst always first" amid the arrests of untold numbers of people who did not have criminal backgrounds.
"I think it's great government what we've done," Trump said.
The visit to the controversial detention center comes as concerns continue to spike about the capacity at state and national detention centers as the administration vows to increase the pace of immigrant apprehensions and removals from the United States.
A multitude of other voices decry the apprehending and deporting of people that were simply leading everyday lives and lacked criminal records. Critics of the Everglades detention facility also have raised concerns about the impact its operations will have on the sensitive, and protected, Everglades.
After the visit, Trump lauded the speed at which Florida officials ramped up the facility and the choice of an isolated wilderness location.
"They did this in less than a week," Trump said. "You look at it and it's incredible. … It might be as good as the real Alcatraz, well, that's a spooky one, too. That's a tough site."
He dismissed environmental concerns, saying the location was "brilliant"
"Frankly, it's like perfect," he said noting that the facility is simply modifying a developed airstrip site. "I don't think you've done anything to the Everglades. I think you're just enhancing it."
Although the location has been discussed as temporary, the president suggested it could be permanent saying "it can last as long as you want to have it."
Trump said Big Beautiful Bill to boost immigration enforcement
The president, however, said he was "actually surprised" by what he termed as "a lot self-deporting" by people who voluntarily left the United States. But he expressed disappointment that "blue states" — where Democrats are perceived to be in power — are doing far less immigration enforcement.
"We have a lot of states, they seem to be red states, and not to too many blue states for whatever reason," he said. "The red states, Republican-run states are doing it. The blue states don't do very well at security and policing, unfortunately."
Trump also touted what he said would be financial windfalls via a "tremendous amount" of Homeland Security money in the "Big Beautiful Bill" spending plan still being debated on Capitol Hill.
He said the legislation would provide more funding for border wall "to keep the border secure" while steering funds for other states as well.
"It's an amazing bill for Florida, too," he said.
DeSantis: People will self-deport rather than 'end up in Alligator Alcatraz'
DeSantis said the facility is a "model" and again touted the program requiring state and local law enforcement to partner with ICE on apprehending immigrants.
"On any given day, Florida constitutes about 20% of all immigration arrests nationwide," he said. "What I would just say is don't let Florida be the only state. We got very red states that should be doing this just as much as Florida is doing. That will increase their numbers."
The governor held open the possibility of broadening the capacity at the Ochopee site, but said the real breakthrough would be deputizing National Guard judge advocates as immigration judges, exponentially speeding up the adjudication process.
"So they're not going to be detained hopefully for all that long," DeSantis siad. "We want to cut through that (bureaucracy) so that we have an efficient operation between Florida and DHS to get the removal of these illegals done."
He also agreed with Trump that the existence of the facility will encourage those potentially facing deportation to leave on their own.
"You'll have a lot of people that will deport on their own because they don't want to end up in an Alligator Alcatraz or some of those other places," he said. "So I think this a model but we need other states to step up."
Noem backed the governor's boasts, noting the "unique" partnership between the Trump and DeSantis administrations.
"Florida was unique in what they presented to us, and I would ask every other governor to do the exact same thing," she said.
For example, Noem stated that the Alligator Alcatraz facility would include a court component so that those held could have their hearings and due process there "and then immediately be flown back to their home countries."
Before departing the White House for Florida, Trump joked about the terrain surrounding the Everglades Alcatraz site.
"You know, the snakes are fast, but alligators, we're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator. OK?" he mused. "If they escape prison, how to run away. Don't run in a straight line. Look like this. And you know what? Your chances go up about 1%. Not a good thing."
As officials move forward with plans to open the new migrant detention facility, the state's GOP has started selling themed shirts, hats and coolers. The items are available on the party's online store, which feature the "Alligator Alcatraz" moniker surrounded by claw marks. The T-shirts and beverage coolers also show a stylized mockup of the building, with a large alligator and snake in the foreground.
Jokes about alligators, detainees duds for immigration advocates
Others found zero humor in the remarks and merchandise as the gravity of the moment was punctuated by the death of yet another immigration detainee in South Florida just days ago.
On June 26, a Cuban-American living in South Florida for nearly 60 years died while being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Isidro Pérez, 75, had been detained since his June 5 arrest in the Florida Keys, where he was living, and taken to the Krome North Service Processing Center. In a statement, ICE said the agency "remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments."
But conditions at facilities like the Krome detention center have been widely criticized by immigration advocates and family members of those being held, saying they are overcrowded and lack proper sanitation. Perez is the fifth person to die in government custody this year, according to federal records.
The Florida fatalities account for half of the deaths suffered by people under the agency's detention this year.
Joe Garcia, a former Democratic member of Congress from southern Miami-Dade County, said the Perez case speaks to the "horror that we know is Krome."
Garcia noted that Perez's offense was for drug possession, not distribution or production, which is the lowest possible violation. And it occurred 41 years ago, he noted.
Once Perez became seriously ill, he was needlessly kept captive rather than being let go.
"Instead of releasing him to his family, we sent him back to Krome," Garcia said. "And now he's dead. And the question is why? Why was this guy in jail? It's part of what's going on."
Now, Garcia said, the state and federal authorities have specifically chosen South Florida for the high-profile detention center.
"This is a concentration camp based on racial profiling," Garcia said of the Everglades facility. "More importantly, this was built in the capital of the Hispanic community in the United States precisely to make a point. The idea is even here, right, even here, Miami, which is run by Hispanics, we put this place."
Plus, Garcia said, to demonstrate cruelty to people who are not "fugitives from justice" but were apprehended as they lived their everyday lives.
"None of these people were running," he said. "It is all done to intimidate and dehumanize our community."
Others cite detention facility as a 'staggering' waste of taxpayer money
Holden Manning was one of the many protesters at Alligator Alcatraz on July 1. He said:
“I don’t think there’s any room for fascism in the United States of America. Where’s the waste of 5,000 people going to go? It’s going to go into the waterways that directly impact our communities. This is something that everybody needs to worry about.”
Protestors are showing up in higher numbers, while some Trump supporters have joined the scene that could be described as a media circus.
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, called the detention center and Trump's visit a "political stunt" she said should highlight what is actually an environmentally damaging waste of taxpayer dollars.
“Turning our treasured Everglades into a prison camp, where migrants — most of whom live here peacefully and contribute to our economy — would be held in sweltering, inhumane conditions, is not who we are as Americans," Frankel said in a statement.
"And at $450 million a year, it’s a staggering waste of taxpayer resources. We need immigration reform, not political stunts."
Environmentalists, Gladesman worry about impact on 'sensitive' wilderness
Two groups, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, have filed a lawsuit against the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop what they said is the "unlawful construction of a prison in the heart of the Everglades."
Sierra Club Florida also is opposed to the development, which it said is "irresponsible."
"They locked the gate," Justin Cunningham said of the moment last month when federal and state officials locked access to what would become Alligator Alcatraz. "They locked us all in."
Cunningham is a Gladesman, a bevy of people who have lived in cabins in the 39 square miles that includes the jetport and now Alligator Alcatraz. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Cunningham spends his time hunting and wildlife watching.
His family has been living and recreating in this part of the Everglades since before the Korean War. Cunningham is a fourth-generation Gladesman owner of property. When the government chose to use the site for an immigration detention facility, Cunningham said the gate on the lone road was locked. He and other property owners were given a code.
"I'm under the hope they keep everything inside the fence and that we are allowed to use this land," he said.
But his concern is over the impact the development of the site will have on the natural wilderness around it.
Petition seeks to make people aware of potential damage to Everglades
Typically, Cunningham saw 15 to 20 cars at most come up the road to the jetport to spy wildlife such as roseate spoonbills, Florida panthers, black bears, turkeys and, yes, alligators.
Since preparation of the site for an immigration holding facility began, he has seen 300 to 500 trucks a day pass through, as well as helicopters. He's seen the paving of previously dirt roads and "constant" traffic.
Once it is fully operational, Cunningham predicts that the movement and disturbance will continue with vehicles bringing inmates, security guards, food and sewer services.
"There's no way you can tell me that 200, 300, 400, 500 trucks a day and the inmates and employees are not affecting the Everglades. Anyone with half a brain can see that," he said.
Cunningham said Homestead Air Force base or the facility at Avon Park farther up north would be better.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm all for removing illegal immigrants. What I have a problem with is you're hurting a very fragile ecosystem. I kind of feel cheated. We have every animal that's listed on the endangered species list in Florida making a home out here. "
An outdoors enthusiast is circulating a petition via the website Change.org calling for halting the use of the detention center.
Donny Dorman, 33, said he was inspired to offer the petition after spending months living in the Everglades wilderness.
"I lived out there in the wilderness for a while," said Dorman, who works in commercial and residential storm restoration in the Port Charlotte area. "I fell in love with it. It's beautiful out there. I can only imagine the impact this facility is going to cause with the endangered species and the pollution it's going to cause."
Dorman said he is familiar with the location of the detention center, which once envisioned as an airport. He said he was invited by a friend two years ago to live in a cabin about 3 miles north of the jetport.
"It was so peaceful. It was its own oasis," he said. "And they are literally building it right on on the front porch of this oasis I'm speaking of."
But more than a zen spot, Dorman said he worries the impact any development will have on the Everglades, which he called a "very sensitive ecosystem" that supplies 8 million people with drinking water.
"Something has to be done," he said. "We can't allow this to happen. I hope people take notice of this and find alternative location for the detention center. Why would you want to destroy such a fragile ecosystem for such a short-term gain. I feel like there's other alternative solutions to this problem."
Trump, DeSantis allies again as president chides Elon Musk
Joining Trump will be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds from Naples, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons and Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie.
For DeSantis, the Trump's visit appeared to mark a political and personal rapprochement with his mentor-turned-adversay-turned-partner. The two have been distant, though seemingly cordial, since their political alliance fractured during the 2024 presidential primary season in which Trump attacked the governor he helped elect in 2018.
Trump left Washington wearing a red cap with Gulf of America written in large letters and "Yet Another TRUMP Development” in smaller script and lauding DeSantis' work on the project.
"We're going out to Alligator Alcatraz," the president said, adding: "It should be very exciting and very good. Worked very hard on it with Ron and everybody, and I think it's going to be great."
Speaking later, Trump suggested that animosity between the two is bygone and that the two "share the same blood." Besides, now it is super-billionaire Elon Musk, a stalwart Trump ally in the 2024 election and subsequent transition period, who is the target of Trump's fury.
Asked to rate his relationship with DeSantis, Trump responded “10 out of 10. Maybe 9.9.”
Clearly angry about his erstwhile bromantic partner's continued, caustic attacks on Trump's signature congressional legislation, the president mused about deporting the South African native in speaking with reporters before departing Washington.
"I don't know. We'll have to take a look," Trump said, then threatened Musk's government contracts well beyond the electric vehicle mandate that is on the chopping block.
"But he could lose a lot more than that. I can tell you right now, Elon can lose a lot more than that," Trump said, then added: "We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible?"
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the Paste BN Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.