Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced that deportation flights have begun to depart from the remote detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz. Speaking from the south Florida site, DeSantis framed his efforts as a model for other states seeking to partner with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “I’m pleased to report that those flights out of Alligator Alcatraz by DHS have begun,” DeSantis told reporters. “The reality is this provides an ability to enhance the mission, to increase the number and frequency of deportations.”
A representative for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Garrett Ripa, confirmed that “two or three removal flights” had already been conducted from the Alligator Alcatraz facility and that more were planned. He indicated that those flights contained “up to a hundred individuals who were illegally present in the state of Florida”. DeSantis said the facility’s location and setup would allow for an increase in deportation flights in the coming weeks. “The cadence is increasing,” DeSantis said. “We’ve already had a number of flights in the last few days.”
President Trump campaigned for re-election on the promise that he would undertake the “largest deportation operation in American history”. However, critics have pointed out that his ambitions may outstrip the amount of detention space and resources the government has available. To address this, the Trump administration has sought additional resources from state and local authorities, as well as assistance from foreign governments.
Part of Trump’s toolkit has been deputising state and local leaders through Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Larry Keefe, the head of Florida’s newly established State Board of Immigration Enforcement, said his team has taken advantage of such arrangements. “Just within the last couple of days, the federal government has issued credentials to over 1,200 Florida sheriff’s deputies and over 650 FDLE agents and other state and local law enforcement agencies,” Keefe said.
Critics have denounced the Alligator Alcatraz facility as an exercise in cruelty, with reports emerging of poor conditions inside the facility. Environmental groups and Indigenous members of the local Seminole and Miccosukee tribes have also criticised the facility for its location in the middle of the Everglades wetlands, a sensitive ecosystem prone to seasonal flooding. DeSantis brushed aside concerns about the facility’s conditions and the rights of undocumented immigrants, questioning whether they should be allowed the same due process rights as US citizens and immigrants with legal status.
DeSantis acknowledged the shortcomings in Trump’s mass-deportation plans but played up the efficiency of the Alligator Alcatraz system. “ICE has been understaffed — you know, is not scratching the surface of what would need to be done to get to where you have the largest mass deportation in history,” he said. “So you’ve got to increase that tempo.” The facility has the capacity to hold up to 3,000 people, and DeSantis hopes to increase the number of deportation flights in the coming weeks.