President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured Florida’s newly developed immigration detention facility, informally dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” located deep within the Everglades at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. The visit, conducted alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, marked the facility’s formal debut just one day before it is set to begin housing detainees.
Built on a remote airstrip surrounded by swampland and wildlife, the site has stirred national attention for both its symbolic significance and controversial location. Governor DeSantis praised the project as an “effective way” to expedite deportations, noting that the facility was completed in just eight days and will support federal immigration enforcement.
Equipped with thousands of beds, over 400 security personnel, 28,000 feet of barbed wire, and more than 200 surveillance cameras, the site is engineered for containment and logistical efficiency. It also includes air conditioning and medical access, modeled on emergency hurricane shelters. Detainees are expected to be processed and deported via the on-site runway.
President Trump, after touring the site with the press, called the facility “so professional and so well done.” He joked, “We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison,” highlighting the remote and unforgiving terrain that officials say adds a natural layer of security.
🚨BREAKING: President Trump demands the DOJ look into arrest DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for aiding an invasion of the United States.
pic.twitter.com/rA8oZiOhgf— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 1, 2025
The administration sees the project as a model for future temporary detention centers across the country. Trump said similar sites could be developed in “many states,” while Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized the facility’s isolation and deterrent effect: “There is only one road leading in, and the only way out is a one-way flight.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem addressed potential detainees directly, stating that they still have the option to “self-deport” to preserve eligibility for legal entry in the future. “If you don’t,” she said, “you may end up here and never get the chance to come back.”
Despite official support, the project has drawn sustained protest. Demonstrators lined the access roads on Tuesday during Trump’s visit, criticizing the facility as inhumane and environmentally damaging. Activist groups, including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the center’s operation pending a federal environmental review.
The location’s history adds further complexity. Originally proposed in the 1960s as the world’s largest airport, the site—known locally as “TNT”—was abandoned following a federal report warning of irreversible environmental damage to the Everglades. Only a single runway and limited infrastructure were developed. Florida later repurposed part of the land for aviation training and wildlife management.
Former Congressman David Jolly, now a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, called the facility a “callous political stunt,” joining a chorus of critics who argue that the project violates environmental safeguards and fuels political theater.
As legal challenges proceed, Florida officials are moving forward. The first group of detainees is expected to arrive Wednesday. Governor DeSantis defended the facility’s location, saying, “Good luck getting to civilization. The security is amazing — natural and otherwise.”