Mon Jun 23 23:30:00 UTC 2025: **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
**Federal Government to Fund Controversial Immigration Detention Centers in Florida, Including “Alligator Alcatraz”**
**MIAMI, FL -** The Trump administration, through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced Monday that it will fund Florida’s initiative to establish immigration detention centers, including a controversial facility nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will largely finance the effort. FEMA, traditionally focused on disaster relief, will utilize its shelter and services program, designed to support cities receiving migrants and asylum-seekers. The move comes despite significant budget cuts to FEMA under the current administration.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” Noem said. “We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier initially revealed plans last week to repurpose an abandoned airfield in the Everglades into a detention facility, now dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” Uthmeier claims the remote location, surrounded by treacherous wetlands teeming with alligators and pythons, would deter escape attempts.
“There’s really nowhere to go. If you’re housed there, if you’re detained there, there’s no way in, no way out,” Uthmeier said, describing the Alligator Alcatraz facility.
Uthmeier announced that the federal government had approved the plan, allowing for the construction of facilities capable of housing up to 5,000 detainees. He anticipates these facilities could begin receiving detainees as early as next month.
This move signifies a broader effort by Republican-led states to assist the Trump administration’s promised mass deportation campaign. The Trump administration has been aggressively expanding immigration arrests with the aid of law enforcement in states like Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. In Texas, the state National Guard has been deputized as immigration officers, granting them the authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
The decision to fund the Florida detention centers and “Alligator Alcatraz” is expected to be met with criticism from human rights advocates and immigration activists, who have consistently voiced concerns about the conditions and treatment of detainees in immigration facilities.
First Piper 