The forgotten racial history of Alligator Alcatraz
The closed detention center faces lawsuits over detainee treatment and claims it damaged protected wetlands, with a future for the airstrip still uncertain.
- Miami-Dade County regained control of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on Tuesday after Florida closed the controversial "Alligator Alcatraz" migrant detention facility, which operated for roughly one year about 6 miles north of Everglades National Park.
- Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier conceived the facility in June 2025 to support President Donald Trump's mass-deportation campaign, deliberately naming it "Alligator Alcatraz" to invoke Trump's interest in reopening the notorious Alcatraz penitentiary.
- Journalist Eric Schlosser reported in The Atlantic that the facility cost about $500,000 annually to hold one immigrant, far exceeding Florida's $30,000 state prison costs. Critics condemned environmental damage to Big Cypress National Preserve.
- During a July 2025 visit, President Donald Trump declared, "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only way out is, really, deportation." The Florida Republican Party commercialized the facility by peddling merchandise like T-shirts.
- Although the tents are gone, racist historical echoes embedded in the name remain unresolved. The facility's legacy perpetuates dehumanizing stereotypes long associated with Black Americans, as such symbols often outlive the contexts in which they were created.
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49 Articles
The land where the immigration detention center Alligator Alcatraz was located for about a year was handed over to Miami-Dade County
Miami, USA, Aug 12 (EFE).- The state of Florida returned this week to Miami-Dade County where it installed the controversial ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, the immigration detention center that became an emblem of President Donald Trump’s massive deportation campaign, which opened it in July 2025. The center faced demands from humanitarian and environmental organizations for the “maltrate” of migrants and the environmental impact of the facility, located…
Miami-Dade Regains Control of 'Alligator Alcatraz' Site, Opening Door to Everglades Restoration
Miami-Dade County has officially regained control of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, ending the state of Florida's temporary use of the remote Everglades property as the immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz."
Miami-Dade County regains control of site used for ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
OCHOPEE, FLORIDA – AUGUST 06: A gate closes off access to the Dade-Collier Airport where the former immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” was located on August 06, 2026 in Ochopee, Florida. Control of the airport has been returned to Miami-Dade county as questions still remain about the cost of the projected to tax payers, with some saying the projected total costs were around $1 billion for the temporary project. (Photo by …
The Conversation
The forgotten racial history of Alligator Alcatraz
The American alligator has meant many things to Americans, at times prized for its hide, adopted as a mascot and weaponized as a slur. YLLA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesThe migrant detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz is closed, but much about it remains unresolved. There are lawsuits over detainees’ treatment, environmental claims over damage to protected wetlands and uncertainty about the future of the airstrip it was built on. One aspe…
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