First migrants arrive at ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
Aerial footage filmed by NBC News showed officials walking people, who appeared to have their hands restrained in front of them, into the sprawling detention centre.
'The first group has arrived at Alligator Alcatraz', Florida Division of Emergency Management wrote on X on Thursday.
Posting a picture of a white van pulled up to a metal fence, it added: 'Florida is proud to help facilitate @realDonaldTrump's mission to enforce immigration law.'
Built in just eight days, the site, located 50 miles west of Miami, is designed to house up to 5,000 migrants and will cost an estimated $450 million (£330 million) a year to run when it is fully operational.
The site's name references the reptile-infested swamp that surrounds the prison, the site is the latest controversial move by the Trump administration to ramp up its deportation programme.
Following Mr Trump's visit earlier this week, signs for 'Alligator Alcatraz' were also put up near the facility.
Workers put up signs along the sole highway leading to the site and outside the entrance of the airfield that has been known as the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.
State officials seized the county-owned land where the facility is located using emergency powers authorized by an executive order issued by the governor.
'The leftist media keep asking, 'what is the real name of this facility?'' Republican state Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote on social media.
He added: 'Answer: 'Alligator Alcatraz'. The signs are going up!'
On Thursday federal agencies opposed a lawsuit brought by environmental groups seeking to halt operations at the detention centre.
Though Mr Trump applauded the centre during an official tour earlier this week, the filing on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seemed to try to distance his administration from the facility, and said no federal money to date has been spent on it.
State and federal officials have promoted the plans on social media, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and 'guarded' by alligators wearing hats labelled 'ICE' for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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