A gaggle of Senate and Home Democrats is pushing officers on the Division of Homeland Safety for extra details about the usage of 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 resolution to make use of what lawmakers known as a “novel state-run immigration detention mannequin” may violate federal legislation and make the federal authorities much less accountable for the situations at immigrant detention facilities.
The letter comes because the Trump administration has embraced the mannequin of utilizing state-run facilities — versus federal or personal ones — to detain noncitizens throughout immigration proceedings, together with utilizing a shuttered state jail as an extra web site 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 known as “Cornhusker Clink.”
“Consultants fear this novel state-run immigration detention mannequin will enable Florida to create an ‘unbiased, 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 legal scrutiny because it was quickly constructed on the location of a not often used airstrip within the Florida Everglades in June. The non permanent 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 quite a lot of bodyguards and quite a lot of cops which are within the type of alligators. You do not have to pay them a lot.” Trump mentioned whereas touring the ability. “I would not wish to run by means of 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 offer extra details about the ability by Sept. 3. They requested the Trump administration to determine the authorized authority that permits Florida to run the ability, verify the ability meets federal requirements for the remedy 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 Pictures
“Brushing apart issues from human rights watchdogs, environmentalist teams, and Tribal nations, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) has greenlit the development of this expansive detention facility that will violate detained people’ human rights, jeopardize public and environmental well being, and violate federal legislation. We ask that DHS promptly present crucial data 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 influence of the location — points which have been on the middle of two federal lawsuits difficult the ability. A federal decide has quickly paused additional building on the web site over environmental issues, 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 mentioned the ability complies with federal detention requirements.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has lauded “Alligator Alcatraz” as an environment friendly means 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 known as on different states to comply with swimsuit and broaden the sort of capability, and I’d simply reiterate that decision. I believe it is necessary. I believe it is going to make a distinction,” DeSantis mentioned at a press convention on the web site in July. “The entire goal 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 accordance with paperwork launched in an ongoing lawsuit difficult the ability, the Florida Division of Emergency Administration and Florida State Guard — together with personal contractors — are working the location underneath 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 accordance with H. Marissa Montes, a professor at Loyola Legislation Faculty 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 prison companies to deal with detainees, amenities like “Alligator Alcatraz” broaden the size of particular person states’ involvement in federal immigration proceedings, Montes mentioned.
“On condition 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 largest deportation in U.S. historical past, the usage of amenities like “Alligator Alcatraz” contributes to a deterrent impact that encourages self-deportation, in line with Montes, who runs Loyola’s Immigrant Justice Clinic.
“We have an elevated quantity of people that are available in searching for to self-deport as a result of they’d moderately self-deport in a means that is dignified, proper, than by the hands of the federal authorities,” Montes mentioned.
