State officials have begun transporting tents and trailers to build Alligator Alcatraz, a 1,000-bed immigration detention center in the Everglades at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. 

The former Everglades Jetport in Ochopee encompasses 28,000 acres in Collier County, but under an agreement, it’s operated by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department. It’s part of a 37-page immigration-enforcement plan state officials revealed May 12, a plan they hope will be a national model.  

The issue wasn’t on the agenda, but came up at the end of the June 24 Board of County Commissioners meeting, when County Manager Amy Patterson told commissioners the county was notified by the Florida Department of Emergency Management over the weekend through a letter of interest to purchase the jetport for emergency purposes to use as a detention center. On June 23, she said, it was learned they were actually mobilizing. 

Emergency Services Director Dan Summers told commissioners he saw equipment arriving yesterday but hadn’t made a site visit yet. 

“They’re bringing in mobile trailers and heavy-duty tents and other wraparound services for this detention facility,” Summers said. “… I understand from [FDEM Director] Kevin Guthrie that the direction is to have that site operational on or about July 1.” 

Summers said he was “taken a little off guard” since he hadn’t received advance notification that equipment was being delivered but conceded Guthrie was busy with other important matters. “I am extremely disappointed in the absence of a courtesy call,” he added. 

FDEM conducted a site visit in February for “some advanced emergency planning,” he said, but Collier wasn’t included in that discussion. Then last week, he said, everyone heard through news reports what state Attorney General James Uthmeier was proposing. 

Uthmeier, who called it a “virtually abandoned facility,” first outlined the proposal during a podcast last week. “If people get out, there’s not much waiting for them, other than alligators and pythons,” Uthmeier said. “Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.” 

The controversial proposal prompted a rally at the site that drew about 200 people holding signs June 22. It was organized by Native American Everglades environmental activist Betty Osceola, Love The Everglades and Friends of the Everglades. “We need to take up that torch again to stop this,” Osceola wrote in a Facebook post by Love The Everglades. 

The Everglades Jetport was initially envisioned in 1968 as an expansion of Miami International Airport. One runway was built, but in the 1970s, concerned citizens, environmentalists and Indigenous leaders halted construction. Indigenous people consider the Everglades land sacred. 

Summers noted the county has no jurisdiction. “It is a state-led mission, and they have worked out a real estate deal with Miami-Dade,” he said of the $20 million offer. “Other than that, we’re Switzerland in this environment.” 

FDEM is providing logistical support, he said, and the lead operator will be the Florida Department of Corrections, which will work with federal and state law enforcement. Collier County Sheriff’s Office and Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office also were notified; CCSO referred all calls about the detention center to FDEM. 

The state will handle on–site emergency services, including fire and emergency medical services, Summers said, adding, “We have been told there will be no taxing of our resources.” 

The state improved communications resources there, he said, such as wireless and cellular coverage. “Historically, it’s been bad out there, but I believe that’s been addressed,” he said. 

Commissioner Rick LoCastro, who mistakenly received the letter of interest, said he’d already received two requests for interviews from The New York Times and USA Today, but would send further inquiries to Patterson’s office. 

Commissioner Bill McDaniel Jr., whose district includes the jetport property, asked to be kept informed. He noted that U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds said on the radio he was unaware of the project. McDaniel also said he spoke with state Sen. Kathleen Passidomo that morning, and she was similarly unaware. 

“Nobody, nobody even called and talked to me about the exposure for our community with regard to the utilization,” McDaniel said, adding he wasn’t looking for permission, just information and that he’d already told a reporter last week that the detention center wasn’t coming. “… I’m frustrated because people look to us to know what’s going on.”