DeSantis Just Built a Tent Prison in the Swamps—Here’s What’s Really Going On at “Alligator Alcatraz”

A controversial new immigration facility in the heart of the Florida Everglades is just days away from opening, and it’s already being slammed with a federal lawsuit.

Nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” the detention site sits at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, deep in Big Cypress National Preserve. Governor Ron DeSantis, who toured the site with Fox News’ Jim Doocy on Friday, says the camp will officially start housing undocumented immigrants this Tuesday.

Built to hold up to 5,000 detainees, the facility is made up of massive tents cooled by portable air conditioners and staffed by the Florida National Guard. DeSantis described it as a “one-stop shop” for intake, processing, and deportation, complete with food services and legal aid access. “It’s being done right, it’s being done by the book,” he said during the tour.

But critics are calling foul.

Environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit aiming to halt the facility’s opening, arguing that the state bypassed critical environmental reviews. The detention center sits on protected wetlands and sacred Indigenous land—an area home to rare wildlife and sensitive ecosystems. Groups say the development violates multiple federal laws and puts both nature and culture at risk.

Despite the backlash, DeSantis is moving forward. He says the new camp supports the Trump administration’s mission to crack down on undocumented immigration, noting that roughly 50,000 people in Florida have final removal orders from immigration judges.

While DeSantis insists the site won’t interfere with aviation training, and the state’s emergency management division will oversee day-to-day operations, many say the governor is going too far.