OCHOPEE, Fla. — President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state leaders Tuesday for the opening of a controversial immigrant detention center, which has faced vocal pushback from Democrats, Native American leaders and activist groups over humanitarian and environmental concerns.
The facility, informally dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by state Republicans, was the brainchild of state Attorney General James Uthmeier. It has received significant national attention, including during a "Fox and Friends" interview with DeSantis on Friday.
“Welcome to Alligator Alcatraz, I like that name by the way,” DeSantis said on the tarmac Tuesday after Trump landed.
Trump, DeSantis, Noem and others participated in a roundtable Tuesday afternoon, when Trump said he'd like to see more facilities like the Everglades one in "more states."
Trump praised the new compound, saying, "It might be as good as the real Alcatraz."
"It’s a little controversial, but I couldn’t care less," he added.
DeSantis has described the push to build the facility as Florida's continued effort to align the state with Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown. But Trump's decision to attend in person shifted some of the focus to the administration, which had to approve Florida’s plan to run the facility.
During a tour of the facility Tuesday, Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told NBC News that the site can now hold 500 detainees and will be expanded to fit as many as 3,000. There were rows of bunk beds inside fenced-in areas under a white tent structure with air conditioning.
Lyons said there will be a law library, which NBC News did not see during the tour, and a recreational facility, which was a large tent with air conditioning and artificial turf on the ground.
There has been significant pushback from Democrats and immigration advocates who see the project as inhumane. They have objected to putting people whom the administration has identified as being undocumented in the middle of a swamp surrounded by snakes and alligators in the middle of the Florida heat — and in an area of the state that is prone to hurricanes. But those reasons are why Uthmeier, DeSantis and other Republicans have said the facility is needed.
Using harsh conditions as a deterrent for undocumented residents to come to Florida is the goal, Florida Republicans have argued.
“They can’t get stuck in a hurricane if they self-deport,” Bill Helmich, executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, said on X in response to concern that the facility is in an area of the state that is regularly affected by hurricanes.
Lyons defended ICE, saying it has “the highest detention standards out of any law enforcement agency.”
He said that ICE plans to hold detainees at the Florida facility no longer than 14 days and that the facility can withstand winds of up to 120 mph.
“We want to make sure that people are getting home safely to the country," he said. "And, you know, it does cost the U.S. government to house these individuals, so we want to make sure that we’re [carrying out] those removal orders quickly, so people don’t have to be detained.”
Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit over the facility Friday.
“This site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by the Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species,” Eve Samples, Friends of the Everglades' executive director, said in a statement. “This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.”
Roughly 100 protesters were at the site Tuesday for the opening.
The issue has been a political winner for Republican in Florida. It has led to an explosion of national media attention and a boost in campaign contributions, a dynamic that has led the state Republican Party to start selling "Alligator Alcatraz" merchandise to take advantage of the moment.
DeSantis’ administration used its emergency powers to expedite the $450 million-per-year facility. The entire compound was constructed in just eight days, a process that included building what amounts to a tent city, hiring a dozen vendors and seizing land from land owned by Miami-Dade County over local leaders’ objections. The facility will be housed on a little-used airstrip that includes a runway that DeSantis said can be used to quickly fly undocumented immigrants to third countries if deportation is deemed appropriate.
National Democrats have been relatively quiet about the issue, but there has been a pressure campaign by Democrats in the state, who are in the minority, to blast the plan.
“They are locking people in a swamp in extreme heat with no clear plan for humane conditions,” state Sen. Shevrin Jones said Friday morning on a call with reporters organized by Florida Democrats.
