Environmental Groups Sue to Halt Construction of Trump’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Facility
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Live updates: President Trump’s Alligator Alcatraz tour in Ochopee, Florida is complete
The detention center is being built in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is about 44 miles southeast of Naples. Today was considered the official opening of the detention center. President Trump saw the progress of converting an airstrip and training base in the Everglades into an overflow detention site. Governor DeSantis’ office announced recently the state will be using emergency powers to seize the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport away from Miami-Dade County. U.S. Senate candidate Josh Weil joined the protesters in opposition of Alligator Alcatraz on Tuesday. Weil said that President Trump’s immigration policies are “cruel and inhumane,” in consideration of the many Floridians who are already struggling economically. “My children deserve a better America than the one we’re giving them now, which means your children deservea better America,’ Weil told protesters at the facility. ‘I’m going to need someone to explain it to me like a child on how you get such great, accurate data of people who are coming across illegally,‘ said Weil.
The detention center is being built in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is about 44 miles southeast of Naples. Today was considered the official opening of the detention center.
Trump saw the progress of converting an airstrip and training base in the Everglades into an overflow detention site. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office announced recently the state will be using emergency powers to seize the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport away from Miami-Dade County.
DeSantis and Congressman Byron Donalds were among the officials on the tour with Trump, who also participated in a roundtable discussion about immigration.
Protestors, led by environmental groups and Native Americans who want to protect their ancestorial lands, came out it force on Tuesday. There were also Trump supporters at the entrance to the facility.
Photos: More coverage of today’s visit by President Trump to Alligator Alcatraz
Trump tour of Alligator Alcatraz ends
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United States Senate candidate Josh Weil joined the protesters in opposition of Alligator Alcatraz on Tuesday.
Weil said that he brought a team of people out to support the protesters and keep them safe.
“These people drove hours, camped out overnight to defend human rights, to stand up for our Constitution, for our environment. It’s incredibly important that we’re here,” Weil said.
Weil said that President Trump’s immigration policies are “cruel and inhumane,” in consideration of the many Floridians who are already struggling economically.Weil said that the data that has “continuously poured out about border crossings” is nonsensical.
“I’m going to need someone to explain it to me like a child on how you get such great, accurate data of people who are coming across illegally,” Weil said.
Weil said the Trump administration is responding to a “fabricated crisis” in the “most cruel and inhumane way possible, rounding up anyone who’s a tad darker in skin complexion than I am, completely violating any of their constitutional rights, their due process and locking them up in internment camps and detention centers.”
Weil said it doesn’t make sense to him that the country allows asylum seekers from countries deemed “dangerous,” and yet, the government is deporting people who “are here legally, people who have birthright citizenship, people who are here under protected status from the country they came from.”
Weil said that he measures his personal policies by determining whether he would want his own children to live amongst certain circumstances.
“My children deserve a better America than the one we’re giving them now, which means your children deserve a better America than the one we’re giving them now,” Weil said.
− Tayeba Hussein
Protestor brings up constitutional issues at Alligator Alcatraz
Protester James Elmore, an antifa activist and U.S. army veteran, said that part of his military service included taking an oath to defend the constitution, which was an oath that “had no expiration date.”
“Right now, Trump and his regime are blatantly violating the constitution,” Elmore said.“That’s literally a concentration camp. There’s no other way to define it, okay? It’s a concentration camp and people will die in there,” Elmore said of Alligator Alcatraz.
Elmore said he’s “pissed off” about President Trump’s immigration policies and that’s why he is protesting.
“The country shouldn’t be this way. We should have rational adults leading things, but instead, we got people preaching to emotion and hate points,” Elmore said.
− Tayeba Hussein
Standing up for Trump: Demonstrators favor president’s immigration stance
Chaunce O’Connor, 42 from Miami-Dade, showed up at the detention center on an electric scooter carrying a large flag that read “Trump Won – Save America.” He wore a blue baseball hat with the words Trump Fan and Sexy.
O’Connor said he was born in Ireland and immigrated to the U.S. with his parents as a child. They came here, legally, he said. And that’s what O’Connor would like to see happen with any other immigrants.
At least twice, O’Connor got into a shouting match with a group of people on the other side of the detention center roadway entrance who chanted against Trump, against ICE an against the detention center. He yelled, “If you hate our country, go to another country;” We are not black and brown, we are red, white and blue;” “USA USA USA.”
While 75 to 100 protestors chanted “Hey Hey Ho Ho Donald Trump has got to go; “No KKK No Fascist USA.”
O’Connor said he was yelling at the anti-Trump, anti-detention center protestors because they are against Trump and the police.
“They don’t like the police. They are saying they hate the USA, why are they here,” he said.
A registered Democrat at 18, O’Connor said he now a Republican. He said he worked with Green Peace and was a member of PETA. He said he is a friend to the environments and wants the detention center built right and with all the right permits and believes it will be.
Nearby, 82-year-old Bob Kunst, born and still living in Miami-Dade, stood with his signs: “We love ‘Daddy’ Trump and “Castrate terrorists rioters. Report ‘illegals.’ ” Wearing a red baseball hat with the words “Trump was right about everything,” and a T-shirt that read “Trump vs. Tramp.”
Kunst said he travels all over Florida with his signs and has been to more than 400 protests in 8 years. He says he is a registered Democrat but only has stayed in the party only because it gets him more media attention.
“I’m thoroughly fed up with the Democratic Party,” he said.
About Trump’s immigration policies, Kunst said, “Trump is onto something, and it’s not just the U.S. Immigration is an issue all over the world.” He said he believes the rest of the world is watching to see what Trump does and what works.
About the detention center in The Everglades, Kunst said, “I like it. It’s a secure place and anyone that tries to escape gets eaten by an alligator. They live in air conditioning, get three meals a day and they figure out who the bad guys are. And they aren’t out in the population.”
− Kyle Foster
Video: Alligator Alcatraz tour turns into ‘Blame Biden’ opportunity
Video: Trump talk about Alligator Alcatraz
Alligator Alcatraz entrance: Like a ‘high school cruising strip’
Hundreds of cars lined the highway as protestors held up signs and shouted over bull horns.
By midday the highway had slowed to a crawl, and delivery trucks pulled over along Tamiami Trail several miles west of the prison entrance.
The protestors spilled out onto the highway at times, and media from dozens of outlets lined the side of the road.
The prison entrance took on a high school cruising strip vibe as the president was scheduled to leave the area.
Protesters held up signs and marched along her highway from a nearby indigenous camp.Camps were set up along the highway, and volunteers were handing out waters to protesters.
One large group of protesters left the prison entrance at 12:45 p.m. as rains started to move into the area.
− Chad Gillis
Video: Big day for protestors at Alligator Alcatraz
Byron Donalds: What he said at Alligator Alcatraz
After the tour, Trump was seated at the center of three tables arranged in a U in a temporary building, and was flanked by DeSantis and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noemi. Among those invited to other tables was U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Naples, who has received Trump’s support to be the next governor instead of expected foe and wife of DeSantis, Casey. Politicians took turns giving speeches, all praising Trump and most bashing former President Joe Biden.
“Governor, I really appreciate you and commend you for your leadership, taking swift decisive action to building this facility,” Donalds said, after first saluting the president. “Our sheriffs are out there every single day. They are arresting these criminal aliens in our streets, and they’re seeing some backlog in their jails so this facility primarily goes to address that backlog.”
− Phil Fernandez
Video: Pro-Trump voices heard at Alligator Alcatraz
Video: It’s ‘more than an environmental issue’
Protestor: Alligator Alcatraz has become ‘negative symbol’
Protester Lupita Vasquez, an Immokalee resident, said that the alligator has become a negative symbol due to the term “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“The people that have been hunted down, that we’ve seen in escalation on these raids, have become a pawn. And the alligator has also become a pawn to be used as terror, to be criminalized,” Vasquez said to the crowd of protesters.
Vasquez said that none of the protesters present today want violence or chaos, but they’re being forced into silence which “feels disgusting.”
Vasquez also said that rumors have been circulating through the community in regard to 1,000 detainees allegedly being flown in overnight “to be placed there for the show that is going to be today on that jetport.”
Vasquez said that the protesting tribal youth are leading with their “gut instinct” and making their voices, and the voices of others, heard.
“We move into change, we impact change when we are uncomfortable, and the Glades make us very uncomfortable. The mosquitoes, the heat. But after a while, it becomes something we can handle. It becomes something we can learn to navigate with, connect with, deal with, appreciate and even have gratitude for,” Vasquez said.
− Tayeba Hussein
Media coverage covers wide spectrum
Media coverage ranged from international Spanish-speaking outlets to Christopher Columbus High School journalism students. Some people wore full face masks and seemed to patrol the crowed, often videoing the event. Someone rented a van with an electric sign that was anti-Trump and pro-immigration. One man rode up and down Tamiami Trail on an electric scooter as though he were part of a circus.
− Chad Gillis
Protestor: This is ‘unjustified’
Protester Luna Reyes, and Immokalee resident and volunteer for Unidos Immokaleesaid that over the last few weeks, the local indigenous community has noticed a lack of discourse in regard to how environmental issues and indigenous rights go hand in hand.
“One can’t be spoken on without the other being spoken on,” Reyes said.
Reyes said there are plenty of ongoing discussions about the impact that Alligator Alcatraz will have on sewage systems, but the detainment center’s impact extends far beyond.
“This is something that not only is going to initially and directly the detainees that are being sent there, but it’s also going to eventually start to affect the ecosystem,” Reyes said.
Reyes said that it’s unjustified that the government would establish their presence in the Everglades “without any input from the people that live here.”
“These are their lands. This is the native land, the sacred land. Everything that they’ve learned has been on this land,” he said.
Protester Dakota Osceola, member of Seminole Tribe of Florida, said that Alligator Alcatraz “is an attack on indigenous people.”
“This isn’t just an environmental issue. This is a human issue. This is a human trafficking issue, this is a genocide, this is an attack on the environment, you name it,” Osceola said.The audacity in coming to our home and thinking they can do something like this, when we are who we are and we have the reputation that we have, that is, ‘no, we don’t surrender.”
He continued.
“We didn’t sign a treaty, we didn’t sign off on this, none of my people think it’s okay.The Seminole and Miccosukee youth are here right now to say this is messed up. We can’t let this happen. Donald Trump, he’s not our president,” Osceola said.
− Tayeba Hussein
Protestors delivering messages with signs
Protestors have gathered and made their way to the entrance and are chanting: “This is what democracy looks like.” Among the signs:
“Communities, not cages”
“Being Brown is not a crime. Abolish ICE”
“Save the sacred Everglades”
− Kyle Foster
Does Alligator Alcatraz have air conditioning?
According to a sign set up in a tent inside Alligator Alcatraz, the facility has “24/7 A/C.”
Other information included on the sign:
Max capacity: 3,000
Staff members: 1,000
Security cameras: 200
Feet of barbed wire: 28,000
Security personnel: 400
On-site resources: Legal, clergy, rec yard, laundry
Our reporter on the ground outside Alligator Alcatraz
Trump: Camp guarded by ‘a lot of cops in the form of alligators’
After landing near the camp, Trump stood next to his limo, with DeSantis and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noemi at his side. The president said more of these camps could be created in the Everglades and elsewhere, serving as model of what needs to be done with detained immigrants.
“It can be,” Trump said. “You don’t always have land so beautiful and so secure, and lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators that you don’t have to pay them so much.”
− Phil Fernandez
Hundreds of media, protestors outside Alligator Alcatraz
Hundreds of media and dozens of protestors linger at this otherwise lonely stretch of Tamiami Trail in the historic Everglades as President Trump arrived at Alligator Alcatraz.
Trump advocates and protesters crowded the highway as the smell of cypress lingered in the air. The smoke was from a nearby indigenous camp, where people have struggled to exist for centuries.
Alligator Alcatraz opened July 1 at the old Jetport site in the Big Cypress National Preserve.Media from across the nation were blanketing this remote stretch of highway near the Collier County border.
Traffic slowed to a stop every few minutes as the media world waited for President Trump to arrive.
− Chad Gillis
Delivery trucks being turned away at Alligator Alcatraz
At the the entrance to the site along Tamiami Trail, Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Officers have been turning away delivery and construction trucks, telling them they can’t get in now, to park and wait.Media still outnumber a a handful of Trump supporters and 15 to 20 protesters opposed to the detention center.One man was walking along the road with a sign displaying the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution Among others at the scene:
A man with a hat inscribed
“Trump was right about everything.
A man with a “Trump Won. Save America flag”
Another with a “We love Daddy Trump” sign.
Protestors displayed signs that say, “No ICE in the Everglades and “Hands Off the Everglades.”
− Kyle Foster
Protestors gather outside of Alligator Alcatraz
Protester Holden Manning was one of the many protesters who are at Alligator Alcatraz this morning said:
“I don’t think there’s any room for fascism in the United States of America. Where’s the waste of 5000 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.”
Protesters and Trump supporters started yelling at each other, “You’ve lost your humanity, one,” shouted at a Trump supporter.
Protestors are showing up in higher numbers and some Trump supporters have joined the scene that could be described as a media circus.
− Tayeba Hussein and Chad Gillis
Trump talks about Alligator Alcatraz in advance of visit
After emerging from the White House at 7:57 a.m., he spoke briefly about his Everglades detention camp before starting on his trip to Florida.
“We’re going out to Alligator Alcatraz,” Trump said, mentioning Gov. DeSantis. “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.”
− Phil Fernandez
Where is Ochopee, Florida, site of Alligator Acatraz detention center?
Ochopee is an unincorporated comunity in Collier County. It is part of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area.
It is located to the east of the intersection of US 41, also known as Tamiami Trail and and State Road 29.
Ochopee is about 36 miles northeast of Naples and about 75 miles southwest of Miami.
− Kim Luciani
Trump: Prisoners will be trained how to “run away from an alligator”
The concept of the detention camp is that the gators should serve as a deterrent, Trump told the press pool covering the day’s activities on the South Lawn of the White House before departing this morning: “That’s the concept. This is not a nice business.
“The snakes are fast, but alligators, we’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator. OK? If they escape prison, how to run away. Don’t run in a straight line. Look like this,” the gesturing president said. “And you know what? Your chances go up about 1%. Not a good thing.”
− Phil Fernandez
Alligator Alcatraz entrance swarming with media in advance of Trump visit
Traffic along the stretch of Tamiami Trail near the entrance to Alligator Alcatraz had ground to a halt around 8:30 this morning, July 1, as media gathered in advance of Trump’s visit.
Dozens of media outlets have swarmed the spot smack in the middle of the Everglades, some in broadcast trucks, antennas raised.
About 100 police officers were staged at the nearby Oasis visitor center about two miles away.
Some protesters were displaying “no prison,” anti-Alligator Alcatraz signs. About 20 or so are there but far outnumbered by media.
− Chad Gillis
Trump readying to depart for Florida
Marine One touched down at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland at 8:11 a.m., with President Trump exiting it four minutes later, according to the press pool covering the day’s activities.
Wearing a Red Gulf of America hat and no tie, at 8:16 a.m., he boarded Air Force One, where long-time Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski was among those waiting on the smaller version of the planes that serve the president.
− Phil Fernandez
President Trump meets with reporters ahead of departure for Alligator Alcatraz
What time will President Trump arrive at Alligator Alcatraz?
The President was expected to leave the White House at 7:25 a.m. this morning, Tuesday July 1 and arrive at the detention center site in time for a guided walking tour at 10 a.m.
The schedule released by the White House is:
7:15 a.m. departure
10 a.m.: guided walking tour
11:05 a.m.: roundtable discussion about illegal immigration
12:10 p.m.: departure
2:45 p.m.: arrive back at the White House
Ready for departure to Alligator Alcatraz
This is from Margo Martin, special assistant to the president and communications advisor:
Roundtable discussion planned at Alligator Alcatraz
When President Donald Trump arrives today (July 1) to Alligator Alcatraz he is scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion about immigration with the following officials:
Governor Ron DeSantis
Attorney General James Uthmeier
U.S. Representative Byron Donalds
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem
Immigration and Custom Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons
Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie
What is Alligator Alcatraz?
“Alligator Alcatraz” is the nickname for a temporary immigrant detention center in Big Cypress National Preserve, near the Florida Everglades.
The site is what Florida State Attorney General James Uthmeier called the “virtually abandoned” Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport, a 39-square-mile airport facility with a 10,500-foot runway.
It will have 5,000 beds, Uthmeier said. He also said the facility is intended to be temporary.
Where is Alligator Alcatraz located? Map of remote Florida immigrant detention center
The former airstrip and training base in the Big Cypress National Preserve is located in South Florida, off U.S. 41, also known as Tamiami Trail.
The facility is in Ochopee, just north of Everglades National Park, about 48 miles east of Naples, 45 miles west of Miami International Airport, and 40 air miles southwest of Boca Raton.
The facility was constructed in 1968 and originally known as the Everglades Jetport or Big Cypress Swamp Jetport, according to the National Park Service. It was intended to be the largest airport in the world, with six runways and a 1,000-foot-wide corridor linking it to both coasts.
Alligator Alcatraz merch
There’s even Alligator Alcatraz merchandise for sale online.
The Florida GOP announced gator-themed T-shirts, hats and can koozies in a fundraising notice sent to supporters, according to Scripps reporter Forrest Saunders. The items are prominently featured at the party’s online store.
“The feds have greenlit Alligator Alcatraz — Florida’s gator-guarded, python-patrolled prison for illegal aliens who thought they could game the system,” the message read. “Surrounded by miles of swamp and bloodthirsty wildlife, this ain’t no vacation spot. It’s a one-way ticket to regret for criminals who’ll wish they’d self-deported.”
Group has filed lawsuit to stop Alligator Alcatraz
On June 27, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to “halt the unlawful construction of a prison in the heart of the Everglades.”
Later on June 27, the groups filed an expedited motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to maintain the status quo while the legal issues are resolved.
Contributing: Cheryl McCloud, C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY Network-Florida
‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center set to open in Everglades amid Trump visit
AllIGATOR ALCATRAZ is set to open in Everglades amid a massive immigration detention center. ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS FILED A LAWSUIT TO HALT THE PROJECT ARGUING THAT THE GOVERNMENT BROKE THE LAW. GULF COAST NEWS’ MADISON ADAMS is tracking the LEGAL BATTLE TO KEEP the PROJECT FROM MOVING FORWARD as state and FEDERAL LEADERS get READY to visit. The National Park Service has been criticized for allowing the construction of the detention center in the first place. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the facility will be the largest in the country when it is completed in the next few years and will hold up to 5,000 people at a time. The facility is expected to open with a visit from President Donald Trump on Tuesday. The center will be located at the former DADE COLLIER TRAINING AND TRAIN JUST AN AIRPORT.
Advertisement ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center set to open in Everglades amid Trump visit Editorial Standards ⓘ
Deep in the Everglades, a massive illegal immigration detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” is preparing to open. With hundreds of vehicles — including dump trucks, heavy machinery, food trucks, and even ambulances — streaming into the remote site, final preparations are underway ahead of a visit from President Donald Trump, who is expected to mark the facility’s official opening Tuesday. Gulf Coast News is in the Everglades ahead of the opening of ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Watch our team coverage now:Gulf Coast News Today on NBCGood Morning Gulf Coast on ABCSecurity around the new facility is intense. Each vehicle is carefully screened at a heavily guarded entrance, with credentials strictly checked and enforced. While no detainees have arrived yet, that could change overnight.Air Force One’s stairway was positioned late Monday, signaling that the president’s arrival is imminent. The center is strategically located in a swamp-surrounded part of the Everglades, a placement Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says was intentional.”The security is amazing, natural and otherwise,” DeSantis told supporters with a laugh. “You literally drive them 2,000 feet, put them on a plane, and then they’re gone. It’s very logistically simple.” Despite the high-level support, the project has not moved forward without resistance. On Friday, environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit aimed at halting the facility’s opening, arguing that the government violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by fast-tracking the project without the legally required environmental review.”This area was meant to be a preserve, a sanctuary for our waters, lands, and wildlife,” said Elise Bennett, Senior Attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Putting a mass detention center here is completely at odds with that vision.” Activists argue the project was pushed forward with minimal public notice. Jessica Namath, who has been camped outside the facility for two weeks in protest, said the scale and speed of the development have been overwhelming.”We had 15 days’ notice, and now there’s basically a city and a detention center here,” Namath said. “It’s been going on much longer than any of us were aware.” Despite the legal and environmental objections, many Floridians are expressing strong support for the center. On Monday, Gulf Coast News interviewed several supporters who drove in from Naples to voice approval of the facility and its goals.”People say it’s racist. No, it’s America,” said Greg Whalen. “Come right, do it right, and we’re here.” As of Monday evening, no detainees had yet arrived at Alligator Alcatraz. However, with Trump’s arrival and a possible ceremonial opening, many expect transfers to begin soon.Whether the courts will intervene in time — or whether the detention center becomes fully operational before legal challenges play out — remains to be seen. DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more.
Where Is Alligator Alcatraz? Size, Facilities And Why Are Environmentalists Opposing Construction Of ICE Detention Centre?
Controversial project is located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Big Cypress National Preserve. Site covers approximately 39 square miles and features a 10,500-foot runway surrounded by swampland home to alligators, pythons and other wildlife. Construction began in late June 2025, with site works underway less than a week after the plan was announced. Environmental coalitions including Friends of the Everglades, Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice have filed a federal lawsuit to halt construction, citing violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. Florida officials highlight its cost-effectiveness and rapid deployment, while environmental and tribal groups continue pressing legal challenges. The coming weeks will determine whether environmental law, cultural heritage or political momentum prevails. The project’s annual operating cost is estimated at approximately US$450 million.
The controversial project, located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Big Cypress National Preserve, has prompted strong opposition from environmentalists, Indigenous groups and human rights advocates.
Location and Scale of the Centre
Alligator Alcatraz is being built on a deserted airstrip some 50 miles west of Miami, within the ecologically fragile Big Cypress National Preserve. The site covers approximately 39 square miles and features a 10,500-foot runway surrounded by swampland home to alligators, pythons and other wildlife.
Designed to accommodate up to 5,000 detainees, the facility is expected to be fully operational by July 2025. Construction began in late June 2025, with site works underway less than a week after the plan was announced.
Facilities and Operational Model
The site is being rapidly developed using temporary infrastructure such as heavy-duty tents and trailers for both detainees and staff, with minimal permanent construction. Natural barriers, namely the surrounding swampland and dangerous wildlife, are being used as a security deterrent. Florida Attorney-General James Uthmeier described it as a ‘great opportunity for the state of Florida’, while Governor Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem emphasised its isolation as both secure and cost-effective. The project’s annual operating cost is estimated at approximately US$450 million, with expenses potentially reimbursed through Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) emergency shelter programme.
Protest image from Friends of the Everglades shows opposition to development in the Big Cypress region, where the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention facility is being built. The slogan reads, ‘No airports, no rock mines, no prisons — Only Everglades.’ (Credit: Friends of the Everglades/everglades.org)
Why Environmentalists and Indigenous Groups Oppose
Opposition has been swift and passionate. Environmental coalitions including Friends of the Everglades, Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice have filed a federal lawsuit to halt construction, citing violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. The site comprises over 96% wetlands and borders habitats of Florida panthers and other endangered species.
Indigenous communities, the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes, assert the land as ancestral territory, including ceremonial and burial grounds. Miccosukee Chairman Talbert Cypress stated, ‘The Big Cypress is the Tribe’s traditional homelands’, while tribal elder Betty Osceola has led prayer walks to protect it.
Local authorities, including Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, have demanded a full environmental impact assessment, warning of ‘significant concerns’ over ecological damage.
Political and Legal Polarisation
Supporters describe the project as a firm stance on rising migration that is time-efficient and secure due to its remote location. DeSantis labelled it a ‘force-multiplier’ for ICE and praised its speedy deployment, comparable to temporary disaster relief arrangements. Former President Trump echoed this, framing it as deterrence bolstered by natural defences.
Critics argue that officials bypassed due process, emergency laws and environmental safeguards for political posturing. The lawsuit contends that federal and state authorities rushed construction without environmental review or public consultation, thereby neglecting the National Environmental Policy Act.
Alligator Alcatraz, situated in the heart of the Everglades, represents a clash between hardline immigration strategy and urgent environmental protection. With capacity for 5,000 detainees and reliance on swampland defences, the facility raises concerns over ecological harm, endangered wildlife, and Indigenous rights. While Florida officials highlight its cost-effectiveness and rapid deployment, environmental and tribal groups continue pressing legal challenges. The coming weeks will determine whether environmental law, cultural heritage or political momentum prevails.
Florida defends “Alligator Alcatraz,” environmentalists seek to halt Everglades detention center
The state says the project poses no “irreparable harm” to the Everglades. Environmental groups say the project threatens endangered species. Florida’s governor has said he expects the site to start operating Tuesday. President Donald Trump is expected to visit the site on Tuesday.. Miami-Dade County objects to the state’s request for a temporary restraining order against the federal government, says the state has used emergency powers to do it. The federal government has not yet responded to the request for the restraining order, a federal judge says. The state is represented by the U.S. Attorney’s office and attorneys with Bothmeier Flexner law firm, which also represents the county, which is representing the plaintiffs.. The center is being built at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a remote site used for flight training, the state says. It is also partly in Collier County, also in Florida.
The state filed a 22-page response to a motion filed by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the facility.
The groups, in a lawsuit filed Friday, contend that the project, which President Donald Trump is expected to visit Tuesday, threatens environmentally sensitive areas and species in the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve.
Florida: Temporary facility poses no irreparable harm
But the state’s attorneys argued, in part, that the groups’ request for a temporary restraining order had not met a test of showing “irreparable harm” from the project, which is being built at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a remote site used for flight training. Gov. Ron DeSantis also disputed Monday that the project would harm the Everglades.
“The detention facility will eventually shut down,” the state’s response said. “Governor DeSantis has been clear that the facility is temporary, is being built on an existing airport, and will not require sewer lines. In these circumstances, there are good reasons to expect a successful return of the status quo.”
The state is building the project and has indicated it will seek reimbursement by the federal government. DeSantis has said he expects the site to start operating Tuesday.
Lawsuit contends state agencies violated laws
The environmental groups filed the request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction Friday along with the lawsuit. They allege that federal and state agencies have violated laws including the National Environmental Policy Act. That law, they say, requires evaluating potential environmental impacts before such a project can move forward.
“In contrast to the significant environmental harms that will result from the construction of a detention center/airport in the middle of a national preserve, and the procedural harm from failing to comply with law requiring an assessment of such harms before proceeding, any harm defendants may shoulder if enjoined would be minimal at best,” the motion for a temporary restraining order said. “DHS (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) already has and contracts with multiple detention centers in Florida and across the United States. To the extent that DHS claims to have insufficient capacity to detain people in response to its own initiative to ramp up apprehensions, that lack of planning does not require or justify bypassing federal laws to develop a new facility within a national preserve and next to a national park.”
But the state’s attorneys contended that the National Environmental Policy Act places requirements on federal agencies, not states, and that Florida decided to establish the detention center. They also cited an “immigration crisis.”
“The risks from delaying the detention facility, which include both imperiling critical immigration enforcement and endangering detainees in current facilities, overwhelm any incidental environmental harm caused by a temporary facility on an existing site,” the state response said. “NEPA (the federal law), in short, does not prevent the states from engaging in critical, timely infrastructure projects.”
But in seeking the temporary restraining order, the environmental groups pushed back against such arguments.
“Putting aside whether intractable political gridlock over immigration reform constitutes an ’emergency,’ it does not give license to the state and federal governments to simply disregard the laws that govern federal projects affecting environmentally sensitive lands, essential waterways, national parks and preserves, and endangered species,” wrote attorneys from the Earthjustice legal organization, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Coffey Burlington law firm.
The lawsuit, filed in the federal Southern District of Florida, names as defendants Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie; U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons; and Miami-Dade County. The county owns the site, which is also partly in Collier County.
The county responds
The county on Monday also filed a response objecting to the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order against Miami-Dade. It said the state had used emergency powers and “commandeered” use of the airport. The federal government had not filed a response as of early Monday evening.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez. The state is represented by Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office and attorneys with the Boies Schiller Flexner law firm.
Live updates: Trump tours ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in Florida Everglades. See what’s happening
President Donald Trump arrived Tuesday morning to tour “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new state-run immigration detention center opening in the Everglades. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met Trump at the new facility, which was constructed within days, and has sparked a wave of criticism and protests. Two environmentalists groups are suing to halt the project.Here are live updates on what’s happening:. ‘Alligator. AlCatraz’ is detention center’S official name, state official says. “Yes, it is the official name.” “We love ‘Daddy’ Trump” in bold red letters, says a longtime South Florida gay-rights activist.“I support what they’re doing, I support what Trump is doing,’” says Bob Kunst, who was wearing a red hat with the words “Trump was right about everything.’ “ “This is a protected area,“ said Phil Ehr, a Republican-turned-Democrat.
President Donald Trump arrived Tuesday morning to tour “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new state-run immigration detention center opening in the Everglades.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met Trump at the new facility, which was constructed within days, and has sparked a wave of criticism and protests. Two environmentalists groups are suing to halt the project.
Here are live updates on what’s happening:
‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is detention center’s official name, state official says
Alligator Alcatraz is not just a moniker designed to sell political merchandise. It is actually the official name of the state-run immigration detention facility that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration built to help detain more people caught in President Donald Trump’s immigration sweeps.
“Yes, it is the official name,” Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, said in an email to the Herald/Times.
Read more here.
— Ana Ceballos
What the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ protests look like
One of the protesters gathered near the center early Tuesday was Phil Ehr. The 64-year-old retired Navy commander is running for the U.S. House of Representatives seat now held by Republican Rep. Carlos Giménez, who represents a portion of South Florida.
Ehr, who has been at the airport since around 5 a.m., called “Allligator Alcatraz” a “waste of money” for taxpayers. He criticized the “exorbitant cost” it would take to run the facility while Florida residents are still recovering from previous hurricanes and storms.
He’s also concerned about the site’s environmental impact.
“This is a protected area,” said Ehr, a Republican-turned-Democrat. “It’s critical to our water sources in South Florida. And here he [ DeSantis] is at the stroke of a pen saying, ‘hey, I want to help out President Trump by creating this mythical alligator, Alcatraz.’”
As crowds of protesters gathered, a truck was seen driving back and forth Tuesday morning near the facility’s entrance, displaying portraits of Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Reps Maria Elivra Salazar and Carlos Gimenez, two of the three Republican House members representing South Florida, with the wording “Traitors to immigrants to Miami Dade to the American Dream.”
Ochopee, Florida, July 1, 2025 – Protesters rally near the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Everglades to voice their opposition to the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center built on the site. President Trump visited the facility on Tuesday. Photo by Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Not everyone in the crowd was rallying against the Trump and DeSantis administration’s immigration crackdown.
Bob Kunst, a longtime South Florida gay-rights activist, pushed a black cart down the street with a large cardboard sign proclaiming “We love ‘Daddy’ Trump” in bold red letters. Kunst said he’s a registered Democrat though he no longer trusts the party. Kunst said he supports legal immigration and the construction of Alligator Alcatraz.
“The bottom line is, I support what they’re doing, I support what Trump is doing,” said Kunst, who was wearing a red hat with the words “Trump was right about everything.”
— Milena Malaver and Churchill Ndonwie
Ochopee, Florida, July 1, 2025 – Bob Kuntz, center, shows his support for President Trump as protesters rally near the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Everglades, where the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center was built by the state. President Trump visited the center Tuesday. Photo by Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
‘Incredibly cruel and inhumane,’ protester says
Rachel Bass, 49, said she drove two hours from Cape Coral on Florida’s Gulf Coast to protest Tuesday at “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“This area was not meant to support this type of project. It’s environmentally hazardous, not to mention incredibly cruel and inhumane,” said Bass, carrying a sign that read “No ICE in the Everglades.”
Bass said she’s surprised by how fast the detention center was constructed. Her home still has damage from Hurricane Ian, which devastated Florida’s Gulf Coast in 2022.
“If they were able to build the type of infrastructure — air conditioning, plumbing, running water, electricity, all of that stuff — if they were able to do that in a week, they have some real explaining to do for the rest of Southwest Florida” when the next hurricane hits, she said.
“They should be able to help us better more quickly when we have a hurricane,” Bass said.
— Milena Malaver
A look inside ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Inside “Alligator Alcatraz” are rows of bunk beds surrounded by chain-link fences, according to a video posted on X by Julio Rosas, national correspondent for Blaze Media, a conservative media company.
What it looks like inside Alligator Alcatraz. pic.twitter.com/oCHedxkPNs — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 1, 2025
The immigration detention center is opening Tuesday with 1,000 beds, though the state expects it will soon hold up to 3,000 beds, according to Jason Delgado, political correspondent for Spectrum News 13, an Orlando area-TV station.
“28,000 feet of razor wire now surround the 39 square mile site,” in the Florida Everglades, Delgado wrote on X.
The facility, which was built in eight days, has more than 200 security cameras and 1,000 staff members with “over 10 miles of Everglades on all sides” of the facility, according to a graphic that is set up near the news conference area. The graphic also indicates that the facility also has A/C and services including clergy, legal and laundry.
It’s Day 1 at ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ where 28,000 feet of razor wire now surround the 39 square mile site.
President Donald Trump will join Gov. Ron DeSantis here Tuesday to attend the site’s grand opening.
The site will open with 1,000 beds, though the state says operations… pic.twitter.com/JUsrFFH1vP — Jason Delgado (@JasonDelgadoX) July 1, 2025
— Michelle Marchante
Trump jokes about teaching immigrants ‘how to run from alligators’
President Donald Trump was on his way to South Florida on Tuesday morning to visit a Florida-run immigration detention center deep in the Everglades that is supposed to be ready to house hundreds of detainees.
Before Trump took off on Air Force One from Washington, D.C., a reporter asked the president if the point of the detention facility’s location — a swampy environment filled with alligators and pythons — is meant to have detainees who escape be eaten by the large reptiles.
“”I guess that’s the concept,” Trump said. “This is not a nice business. I guess that is the concept.”
The president then joked that immigrants will need to learn how to run away from alligators if they escape.
Read more here.
— Milena Malaver, Churchill Ndonwie, Ana Ceballos, and Syria Ortiz Blanes
What ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ looks like
Law enforcement officials lined up along the one-way entrance to the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport early Tuesday in the Everglades, monitoring who was coming in and out of the center. By 8 a.m., more than a dozen media outlets had lined up in a single file in the grass, just outside the gates.
Shortly after, three black Ford Expedition vans entered the airport, followed by the Collier County Sheriff Office’s Emergency Response Team. Collier deputies could be seen directing vehicles and guarding the entrance. At least two military vehicles were seen entering the airport, where the detention center was built by the state over the past week. The center is about 40 miles west of Miami, off Tamaimi Trail in the Everglades.
Near the facility’s entrance is a sign taped up to a metal barrier with the words “Preserve Nature, No More Destruction!!” written on it. Passing cars slowly drove by, trying to catch a glimpse of what can be seen beyond the open gates.
— Milena Malaver and Churchill Ndonwie
What DeSantis has said about ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
DeSantis, who is expected to join Trump on Tuesday morning, has called the new facility a “force multiplier” that will respond to the Trump administration’s needs for more detention space for immigrants. The site, which has a runway long enough to rival what’s available at Miami International Airport, could also help ramp up deportation flights.
“Most states are doing nothing,” DeSantis said at a news conference on Monday. “We are one of the few states — we may be the only state — that is really full throttle saying, ‘You know what? We are not going to solve this problem unless we are part of the team.’”
Read more here.
— Syra Ortiz Blanes and Ana Ceballos
Meet some of the folks who live near ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Scott and Conny Randolph live on a wild piece of land they call paradise. They’re comforted by the hoots of owls and snorts of pig frogs. They look up at night to a sky full of glittering stars. And when they get up in the morning, they look out the window to greet their neighbor, a 6-foot-long alligator named Big Momma.
Anyone who listens to the Randolphs, who live on the property of the Clyde Butcher Big Cypress Gallery, will get an earful on how beautiful, magical and serene the Big Cypress National Preserve is.
But those who listen to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who proposed building Alligator Alcatraz, a migrant detention center smack dab in the middle of sprawling Everglades marsh, may get a different picture. “You don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. If people get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. No where to go, no where to hide,” he said in a video posted on X.
Folks who live and work in Big Cypress, a federally protected section of the vast Florida Everglades, are pushing back on outsiders’ misconceptions of their beloved swamp. It is not totally inhospitable to human life — just ask the Seminoles and Miccosukees.
Read more here.
— Amanda Rosa
Scott Randolph, a resident artist at Clyde Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery, walks by a warning sign about alligators in his yard. Randolph lives a few miles from the immigration detention facility built at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Everglades. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
How DeSantis built ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ within days
Nearly three years ago, when Hurricane Ian destroyed a bridge in southwest Florida and left residents on a barrier island with scant access to drinking water and food, Gov. Ron DeSantis leveraged his emergency authority to scramble contractors to reconstruct the bridge. It took less than three days.
Now, the Republican governor is wielding those same powers for something different: building an immigration detention center deep in the Everglades in a week.
Read more here.
— Ana Ceballos, Romy Ellenbogen and Alex Harris
What is ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and where is it in Florida?
The detention immigration facility is located in an idle airstrip found within the Florida Everglades, about 40 miles west of Miami International Airport and halfway to Naples. It’s just north of the Tamiami Trail, which runs through the Everglades.
The air strip, known as the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, is owned by Miami-Dade County and was recently seized by the state. It’s located just east of the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is federally protected land, and is surrounded on three sides by Miccosukee and Seminole tribal infrastructure, including homes and ceremonial sites.
The detention center is nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” because it’s surrounded by wetlands home to gators and pythons.
— Grethel Aguila
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 7:16 AM.