Fact Check: 'Alligator Alcatraz' is real. Here's what to know about the Florida detention center
A migrant detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" was expected to open in Florida in 2025.
Rating:
Amid an immigration crackdown led by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, posts that made the rounds online in late June 2025 claimed a migrant detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" would soon open in Florida.
For example, one X user shared the following post:
Similar claims circulated on Facebook. An account called "Donald Trump for President" shared this message on June 29, 2025:
HUGE: Alligator Alcatraz is set to open in 2 DAYS Thousands of illegal aliens will be housed in the middle of the Florida Everglades surrounded by gators and pythons - and because it's at an airport, they can be deported EASILY! Construction is moving swiftly.
Snopes readers also emailed us and searched our website to ask whether "Alligator Alcatraz" was real.
A new temporary detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" officially opened in Florida on July 1, 2025, according to federal officials and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. Therefore, we've rated this claim true.
As Snopes previously reported, Uthmeier proposed the detention center for migrants known as "Alligator Alcatraz." He posted a video detailing plans for such a facility on his verified X and Facebook accounts on June 19, 2025, and previously discussed the proposal during a segment with "Fox Business."
At the time, Uthmeier described "Alligator Alcatraz" as a "one-stop shop to carry out President Trump's mass deportation agenda." In his video shared on social media, he said, in part:
Florida has been leading on immigration enforcement, supporting the Trump administration and ICE's efforts to detain and deport criminal aliens. The governor tasked state leaders to identify places for new temporary detention facilities. I think this is the best one, as I call it, Alligator Alcatraz.
This 30-square-mile area is completely surrounded by the Everglades [and] present a efficient, low cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don't need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.
The federal government confirmed several days later that it was partnering with Florida on "Alligator Alcatraz." In an X post shared on June 23, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrote:
We are working on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people's mandate for mass deportations. Alligator Alcatraz will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.
In the days leading up to the opening of "Alligator Alcatraz," the Florida GOP also advertised official merchandise available to purchase online.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem would travel to Florida on July 1, 2025, for the opening of a new migrant detention center at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. The facility located "in the heart of the Everglades" would be "informally known as Alligator Alcatraz," Leavitt said.
Uthmeier also announced the opening of "Alligator Alcatraz" in a post on July 1, 2025. The "state-operated facility" located in Ochopee, Florida, is "expected to have up to 3,000 beds," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in an X post.
Florida is planning to hold another 2,000 people in a separate detention center at a National Guard facility called Camp Blanding, state Gov. Ron DeSantis said during the visit to "Alligator Alcatraz." Construction on that facility is expected to start "right after" Independence Day, according to Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie.
During the visit, Noem encouraged other states to explore similar options. She said, in part:
Florida was unique in what they presented to us and I would ask every other governor to do the exact same thing. This is unique because we can hold individuals here. They can have their hearings to get due process and immediately be flown back to their home countries.
Prior to the opening of "Alligator Alcatraz," Noem also told CBS News that the detention facilities in Florida would be funded "in large part" by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Shelter and Services Program, an initiative created by Congress that "provides financial support to non-federal entities" to offer shelter and related services to migrants released from DHS custody.
The "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center is expected to cost $450 million a year, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.
Snopes archives' contributed to this report.
X (Formerly Twitter), 19 June 2025, x.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/1935741644101374271. Accessed 20 June 2025.
Facebook.com, 19 June 2025, www.facebook.com/agjamesuthmeier/videos/1950662342406348/. Accessed 20 June 2025.
Fox Business. "Florida Officials Want to Turn a Piece of the Everglades into the State's Largest Immigration Facility." Fox Business, 17 June 2025, www.foxbusiness.com/video/6374484480112. Accessed 20 June 2025.
X (formerly Twitter), 23 June 2025, https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1937300544575385790. Accessed 1 July 2025.
"Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, June 30, 2025." The White House, 30 June 2025, www.whitehouse.gov/videos/press-secretary-karoline-leavitt-previews-president-trumps-upcoming-trip-to-alligator-alcatraz/. Accessed 1 July 2025.
Payne, Kate. "Trump toured Florida's immigration detention center in the Everglades. Here's what to know." apnews.com, 1 July 2025, https://apnews.com/article/florida-alligator-alcatraz-immigration-detention-trump-desantis-cc060aa6528acbd91a87ec1922578146. Accessed 1 July 2025.
LiveNOW from FOX. "President Trump on Migrant Detention Center, 'Alligator Alcatraz.'" YouTube, 1 July 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X_yJLf-D0M. Accessed 1 July 2025.
"President Trump Participates in 'Alligator Alcatraz' Roundtable Discussion | LiveNOW from FOX." YouTube, 1 July 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoeuYX_rl_g. Accessed 1 July 2025.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez. "Florida to Receive Federal Funds to Build Immigration Detention Sites, Including 'Alligator Alcatraz,' Noem Says." Cbsnews.com, CBS News, 23 June 2025, www.cbsnews.com/news/alligator-alcatraz-florida-immigration-detention-centers-dhs-secretary-noem/. Accessed 1 July 2025.
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I mean, y'all have seen the complete devastation, we never even imagined that this could happen,' Somerville said in an interview on Fox News on said the campers in her care were put on military trucks and evacuated, and that all were safe. The disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 9m. A day after the disaster struck, the summer camp, where 700 girls were in residence at the time of the flooding, was a scene of devastation. Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least 1.83m from the floor. Bed frames, mattresses and personal belongings caked with mud were scattered inside. Some buildings had broken windows, one had a missing wall.
