Florida has begun deporting people from the controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” detention camp, Governor Ron DeSantis has said, with removals expected to increase in the coming weeks. At a press conference at the facility, Mr DeSantis said “hundreds of illegals have been removed” from the site.
He later clarified that most of those had been flown to other detention facilities in the US, while 100 people had been deported from the country. Flights operated by the Department of Homeland Security had begun, he said, with the “cadence increasing”. Officials said two or three flights had departed so far, but did not disclose their destinations.
The camp, located in the rural Everglades region about 40 miles from Miami, has faced demands for closure from non-profit organisations. Advocates have reported appalling conditions, including overcrowded pods, sewage backups resulting in “cages flooded with feces”, and denial of medical care. The 39-acre site, built in a matter of days, is said to hold more than 1,000 men in flood-prone tents.
Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida division of emergency management, said the facility’s capacity had grown to 2,000 people in less than a month and would increase to 4,000. He defended conditions, insisting the camp met or exceeded “the higher standard” of detention facility conditions.
Since opening in early July, officials have highlighted the site’s harsh setting, surrounded by alligators, crocodiles, pythons and mosquitoes, and its name echoing the notoriously harsh Alcatraz prison. President Donald Trump had said the jail would hold “deranged psychopaths” awaiting deportation, but it emerged last month that many detainees have no criminal records. Democrats have sued Mr DeSantis to demand access to the facility.
