The newly established migrant detention center, dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, has sparked significant financial concerns for US taxpayers.
With President Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown on immigration, Florida has recently unveiled a new detention facility as of July 1. This center is located at the former Dade-Collier Training and Transport Airport in the Everglades, just west of Miami, Florida. The area is reportedly encircled by waters teeming with alligators and pythons, adding to its notoriety.
The facility can accommodate up to 3,000 individuals. However, initial reports from detainees highlight several issues, including harsh conditions, food infested with maggots, lack of water for bathing, and lights that remain on around the clock. Some detainees claim they haven’t “seen the sun” in days and describe being confined in “cages like chickens”, with many sharing one of the few available toilets.
The construction of the center, completed in just eight days on an old runway, has been criticized by environmentalists for bypassing necessary permits and potentially endangering local wildlife and ecosystems, as reported by the Miami Herald.
Recent figures from the state reveal the center’s annual cost to taxpayers could reach $450 million, with additional expenses likely as bills increase, according to News Channel 9. Florida State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith pointed out that this expense is three times what it costs to house migrants in existing correctional facilities.
“There’s a huge financial cost to taxpayers to have a tent city on top of the Florida Everglades rather than utilizing existing detention centers,” he said. “The average cost to the State of Florida to incarcerate an individual into one of our state prisons or correctional facilities is approximately $27,000 per year, so if you just do the back of the napkin math on the cost of the Everglades camp… $450 million to taxpayers… with a maximum capacity of 5,000 individuals, you’re looking at over $90,000 a year per person.”
The center aims to accommodate undocumented individuals temporarily before they are repatriated, though its tent-based structure raises concerns about withstanding a Category 3 hurricane.
This development has drawn criticism from Florida Democrats, exacerbated by their initial denial of access to the facility. After a state-organized tour, Democratic congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz described it as an ‘internment camp’ that should be ‘shut the hell down’.
She remarked that images of the facility ‘don’t do it justice’, highlighting that people were ‘packed into cages’.
On the other hand, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis defended the facility, stating: “It’s not the Four Seasons. It is a professional processing center to effectuate the deportation of illegal aliens. That’s what it’s for. It’s professionally run. It’s going to be value-added, and they’re [Democrats] going to be able to see it.”
Addressing concerns about hurricanes, DeSantis said: “This ain’t our first rodeo – and there’s not one place in Florida that would be totally immune to a hurricane.”
Stephanie Hartman, Deputy Director of Communications at the Florida Division of Emergency Management, stated to UNILAD: “The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Sky News: “Alligator Alcatraz is a state-of-the-art facility that will play a critical role in fulfilling the president’s promise to get the worst criminal illegal aliens out of America as fast as possible. President Trump is grateful to partner with [Homeland] Secretary [Kristi] Noem and Ron DeSantis on this important project.”