Alligator Alcatraz has opened in the Florida Everglades. Here are some takeaways

Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald on Jul 4, 2025

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MIAMI — A state-run detention facility for migrants has opened in the Florida Everglades. Alligator Alcatraz — that is the official name — was assembled in eight days and opened on July 1. President Donald Trump visited the remote site on opening day, built at an old runway near the Miami-Dade and Collier county line.

Here are the top stories from the Miami Herald about Alligator Alcatraz:

Alligator Alcatraz opened ready for a hurricane — but not a summer shower

Shortly after President Donald Trump left the brand new detention facility to hold immigrants in the middle of the Everglades, a garden-variety South Florida summer rainstorm started. The water seeped into the site — the one that earlier in day the state’s top emergency chief had boasted was ready to withstand the winds of a “high-end” Category 2 hurricane — and streamed all over electrical cables on the floor.

What if a hurricane hits ‘Alligator Alcatraz’? Florida drawing up evacuation plan

Florida’s Department of Emergency Management, which is overseeing the facility, told the Miami Herald it’s “fully prepared for any storm that may threaten our state,” but that the formal plan for the facility is not completed yet.

Lawmakers were stopped from entering Alligator Alcatraz. That may violate Florida law

A group of Florida lawmakers were barred from entering Alligator Alcatraz, with a Florida official citing “safety concerns.”

Detention center driving out wildlife, damaging Everglades, critics contend

Environmentalists worry that the rapidly constructed facility — which they contend sidestepped all required environmental permitting — will be harmful to the animals and ecosystem that surround it.

Contractors building Alligator Alcatraz have donated money to Florida GOP, DeSantis

Among at least nine state contractors involved in the creation of Alligator Alcatraz, three have given money to Gov. Ron DeSantis or the Republican Party of Florida for statewide campaigns.

Alligator Alcatraz receives first immigrant detainees

The first detainees arrived at Alligator Alcatraz late night July 2, even as the immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades has already faced some operational issues with security and water intrusion.

How DeSantis leaned on emergency powers to build ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in days

Relying on an emergency order issued in January 2023 in response to a flood of Cuban and Haitian migrants arriving by boat in the Florida Keys, DeSantis seized county land and mobilized a team of private companies to build a facility big enough to hold 3,000 detained immigrants.