ICE’s assault on illegal migrants could be about to take a dystopian twist—with the creation of a detention camp dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier has proposed building a center in the middle of the Everglades—surrounded by ‘gators, crocs and snakes—as a “low-cost” solution for detaining what he described as “criminal aliens.”
Speaking from the Miami-Dade Collier training facility, Uthmeier said in a video posted to his X account that the abandoned airfield site in a 30-square-mile patch of isolated swamp, could quickly be transformed into what he called “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“People [detained migrants] get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide,” he declared. “It presents an efficient, low-cost opportunity… because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter.”
With ICE detention centers overflowing, Uthmeier claimed the site could be operational within 30 to 60 days of breaking ground and could house up to 1,000 people.
Describing it as a temporary facility to support state and federal immigration enforcement, including ICE’s efforts to detain and deport undocumented immigrants, his plan was supported by a slick video featuring graphics and even a logo.
“Florida’s been leading on immigration enforcement,” Uthmeier said, touting the state’s collaboration with the Trump administration. “The governor tasked state leaders to identify places for new temporary detention facilities. I think this is the best one.”
While Uthmeier praised the swampy location as a natural barrier, he did not discuss in the video any opposition his plan would likely face from civil liberties advocates or from environmentalists, given the Everglades’ protected status and fragile ecosystem.
Uthmeier also did not provide any details about funding, oversight, and federal involvement.
Still, the Floridian politician was adamant: “Alligator Alcatraz—we’re ready to go.”
ICE is currently holding around 53,000 undocumented migrants—surpassing the number Congress has allocated funding for under the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown, according to the New York Post Thursday.
The department is tearing through its budget, which is already more than $1 billion in the red, according to a report in Axios on Monday.
The Post also reported Congress had approved funding for about 41,500 detention beds in 2023/24 at a cost of $3.4 billion—but the current migrant surge has blown past that limit, pushing the system to its brink, says the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
If Republicans manage to push their so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” through the Senate, ICE could see a massive cash injection of $45 billion to ramp up detention capacity, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Everglades National Park was the first federally protected area in the U.S. created to preserve an ecosystem rather than scenery, according to the National Parks Service.
According to Smithsonian, it is the only place on Earth where alligators and crocodiles live side by side, and is the only spot in the entire U.S. where crocodiles can even be found.
Established in 1934 to safeguard the region’s astonishing biodiversity, it spans 1.5 million acres, and is home to North America’s most expansive protected mangrove forest.
As the only subtropical wilderness in North America, it is protected by strict federal law forbidding any human impact.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Florida AG’s office and ICE for comment—including asking ICE about whether it had discussed or would support the proposal.
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