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“Alligator Alcatraz”: Florida Plans to Build $450 Million Immigration Prison in Everglades

HeadlineJun 24, 2025
Image Credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

In more immigration news, Florida is building an immigrant jail that officials have nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” with plans to turn an isolated airfield in the Everglades into a mass detention tent camp. The facility will cost some $450 million a year to operate, with an option for Florida to request a partial federal reimbursement from FEMA. Florida’s attorney general and Trump ally, James Uthmeier, has said the state won’t invest much in security, as the facility is surrounded by alligators and pythons.

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