Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reportedly announced Friday that federal deportation flights have begun from the state’s newly constructed migrant detention facility, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” a remote complex in the heart of the Everglades designed to hold illegal immigrants prior to deportation.
“I’m pleased to report that those flights out of Alligator Alcatraz by DHS have begun. The cadence is increasing. We’ve already had a number of flights, in the last few days, we’ve had hundreds of illegals [that] have been removed from here,” DeSantis said at a press conference in South Florida.
The announcement marks a significant step in the governor’s ongoing push to tighten immigration enforcement at the state level, asserting Florida’s right to protect its communities amid what he and many conservatives view as a catastrophic failure of federal border policy.
The “Alligator Alcatraz” facility, situated on a former airport site in Ochopee in Miami–Dade County, was authorized under an emergency executive order by DeSantis. The location—a sprawling 30-square-mile expanse deep in the Everglades—has been refitted with durable tent infrastructure and is currently equipped to hold 2,000 detainees, with plans to scale up to a 4,000-person capacity.
“The whole purpose is to make this be a place that can facilitate increased frequency and numbers of deportations of illegal aliens, and that is the goal,” DeSantis said. He emphasized that the site’s strategic location, including a functioning runway capable of handling commercial-sized aircraft, was key to ensuring swift and efficient deportation operations.
“This airport is able to accept commercial-sized aircraft and conduct both day and nighttime operations,” the governor explained. “And one of the reasons why this was a sensible spot is because you have this runway that’s right here. You don’t have to drive them an hour to an airport. You go a couple thousand feet and they can be on a plane and out of here.”
While federal officials have kept a tight lid on specifics—including how many migrants have been deported or the destinations of deportation flights—Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin offered a brief but pointed comment: “Fire up the deportation planes,” she said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The operation is a significant expansion of the state’s partnership with federal immigration authorities and a bold assertion of state sovereignty in an area long dominated by Washington bureaucracy.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management is overseeing operations at the facility, which officials say is running at limited capacity for now but is prepared to ramp up as deportations accelerate.
With federal authorities now flying out hundreds of illegal entrants, DeSantis’ hardline immigration agenda appears to be taking flight—literally. “We’re delivering results,” the governor said. “And we’re going to continue doing what it takes to protect the people of Florida.”
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