A bunch of Senate and Home Democrats is pushing officers on the Division of Homeland Safety for extra details about using the immigration detention facility within the Florida Everglades often called “Alligator Alcatraz.”
In a letter despatched late Tuesday to the heads of the Division of Homeland Safety, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and FEMA, the lawmakers expressed concern that the Trump administration’s determination to make use of what lawmakers referred to as a “novel state-run immigration detention mannequin” may violate federal legislation and make the federal authorities much less accountable for the circumstances at immigrant detention facilities.
The letter comes because the Trump administration has embraced the mannequin of utilizing state-run amenities — versus federal or personal ones — to detain noncitizens throughout immigration proceedings, together with utilizing a shuttered state jail as an extra website in Florida, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” and increasing ICE detention area in an Indiana correctional facility dubbed the “Speedway Slammer” and in a Nebraska facility to be referred to as “Cornhusker Clink.”
“Specialists fear this novel state-run immigration detention mannequin will enable Florida to create an ‘impartial, unaccountable detention system’ that runs parallel to the federal detention system,” the group of eight senators and 57 representatives wrote.
The “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility has been the topic of intense political and authorized scrutiny because it was quickly constructed on the positioning of a hardly ever used airstrip within the Florida Everglades in June. The short-term detention middle — which at the moment can home 3,000 migrants awaiting deportation — was toured by President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in early July.
“They’ve a whole lot of bodyguards and a whole lot of cops which can be within the type of alligators. You do not have to pay them a lot.” Trump stated whereas touring the ability. “I would not wish to run by the Everglades for lengthy.”
Within the letter, spearheaded by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the lawmakers requested the Division of Homeland Safety to supply extra details about the ability by Sept. 3. They requested the Trump administration to establish the authorized authority that permits Florida to run the ability, affirm the ability meets federal requirements for the therapy of detainees, and description the standards utilized by DHS to reimburse Florida for the ability.
An ambulance arrives on the entrance to “Alligator Alcatraz” on the Dade-Collier Coaching and Transition Airport, August 14, 2025 in Ochopee, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Photos
“Brushing apart considerations from human rights watchdogs, environmentalist teams, and Tribal nations, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) has greenlit the development of this expansive detention facility which will violate detained people’ human rights, jeopardize public and environmental well being, and violate federal legislation. We ask that DHS promptly present important info for the American public to raised perceive this detention plan,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers additionally requested extra details about authorized entry for detainees on the facility and the environmental impression of the positioning — points which were on the middle of two federal lawsuits difficult the ability. A federal choose has quickly paused additional development on the website over environmental considerations, and a lawsuit over authorized entry was partially dismissed after the Trump administration established a close-by immigration court docket to deal with points stemming from Alligator Alcatraz.
A spokesperson for the Division of Homeland Safety didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark in regards to the letter. Division of Homeland Safety Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has beforehand stated the ability complies with federal detention requirements.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has lauded “Alligator Alcatraz” as an environment friendly approach for Florida to work with the Trump administration to hold out deportations, and has inspired different states to do the identical.
“I do know that the administration has referred to as on different states to comply with go well with and increase this sort of capability, and I might simply reiterate that decision. I believe it is essential. I believe it’ll make a distinction,” DeSantis stated at a press convention on the website in July. “The entire objective is to make this be a spot that may facilitate elevated frequency and numbers of deportations of unlawful aliens.”
Since “Alligator Alcatraz” opened in July, immigration advocates have been pushing for extra details about the ability, arguing that the custodial and operational particulars have been initially saved murky to forestall oversight. In response to paperwork launched in an ongoing lawsuit difficult the ability, the Florida Division of Emergency Administration and Florida State Guard — together with personal contractors — are operating the positioning below a 287(g) settlement with the federal authorities.
“Whereas the aliens are within the bodily custody of the State, they’re for sure authorized functions handled as within the custody of the federal authorities,” an lawyer with the Division of Justice wrote in a court docket submitting earlier this month.
In response to H. Marissa Montes, a professor at Loyola Legislation College in Los Angeles, the mannequin utilized by Alligator Alcatraz permits the federal authorities to outsource detention amenities to keen states and personal contractors. Whereas the federal authorities has lengthy relied on county jails and for-profit jail firms to deal with detainees, amenities like “Alligator Alcatraz” increase the size of particular person states’ involvement in federal immigration proceedings, Montes stated.
“Provided that DHS is working straight with the Florida state authorities on a detention facility with alarming implications, DHS ought to guarantee transparency and accountability surrounding the ability’s financing operations,” the lawmakers wrote of their letter.
With Trump vowing to hold out the biggest deportation in U.S. historical past, using amenities like “Alligator Alcatraz” contributes to a deterrent impact that encourages self-deportation, based on Montes, who runs Loyola’s Immigrant Justice Clinic.
“We have got an elevated quantity of people that are available looking for to self-deport as a result of they’d slightly self-deport in a approach that is dignified, proper, than by the hands of the federal authorities,” Montes stated.
