Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday that deportation flights have begun departing from the state-run Everglades Immigration Detention Center, a facility critics have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The development begins a new chapter in Florida’s already controversial immigration enforcement initiative. The deportations are already drawing negative responses from civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers.
According to the governor, more than 100 individuals with final deportation orders have already been removed from the facility, with “many hundred” more in transit and awaiting flights. The facility, which opened just three weeks ago, is located in a remote area of the Everglades and is intended to serve as a prototype for state-led immigration enforcement partnerships.
“This is just the opening stage,” DeSantis said. “You’re going to see this really ramp up.”
But critics say that ramping up is happening without public oversight or proper legal safeguards.
Speaking with the press, state Representative Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) expressed alarm at the pace and secrecy of the operation. She pointed to what she described as a “lack of transparency and lack of due process continues to persist.” She continued, “They’re only uploading cover sheets. They’re not giving specifics.”
Eskamani also questioned whether all individuals being deported have received final orders from immigration judges. Without access to detailed records, she said, it is impossible to know whether deportations are being carried out legally and fairly.
The detention center has already cost Florida taxpayers an estimated $245 million, according to a state database. Eskamani and others warn the final cost could exceed half a billion dollars. Yet detailed contracts have been scrubbed from public websites, replaced only with summary sheets.
Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie defended the decision to remove detailed documents, saying the information could give an advantage to competing contractors. “We took that down,” Guthrie said. “We’ve replaced it with summary sheets on the actual amount that they’ve been given.”
State officials maintain that the federal government, through the Department of Homeland Security, will ultimately reimburse the costs.
Environmental groups have also raised concerns about the location of the facility and its potential impact on the surrounding ecosystem, which includes sensitive habitats within the Everglades.
Governor DeSantis dismissed the criticism on Friday, calling the facility a “force multiplier” and saying it meets or exceeds all state and federal standards.
Despite the administration’s confidence, questions remain over who is being deported, how those decisions are being made, and whether the facility marks a new and dangerous expansion of state-led immigration enforcement.
