Jacob Ogles
Senate Democrats say the opening of a so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” has more to do with raising money than addressing crime.
Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman dismissed the center as an “alliterative, cruel publicity stunt.” And as environmental groups sued to stop its opening, Democrats warned that the abuse of emergency funds by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration could leave Florida without resources when an actual disaster strikes.
“We know that they are using FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funds, but we’ve heard that FEMA could go out of business, so we don’t know how this will impact the people of the state of Florida,” Berman said.
The DeSantis administration said the project, announced just last week by Attorney General James Uthmeier, could be open as soon as Tuesday. DeSantis has even urged President Donald Trump to fly Air Force One into the facility, which is being set up at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on the edge of the Everglades National Park.
“I think the President will be impressed with what these guys are doing out here,” DeSantis told Fox & Friends on Friday morning.
But Democrats in the Legislature certainly are not impressed. They suggested the entire project served primarily to make headlines and sell political merchandise for the Republican Party of Florida.
Lawmakers also took issue with announcing the project shortly after a Legislative Session that lasted more than 100 days.
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, said Uthmeier, who was appointed to his post earlier this year, desperately needed a distraction after various scandals plagued his first months in office.
“The announcement of the so-called ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ has been timed intentionally to avoid legislative oversight,” Smith said.
“It’s meant to get Trump’s attention and to distract from the Medicaid dollar laundering scheme that found this Attorney General under intense scrutiny and investigation, even from the Republican-led Florida House of Representatives. It’s an attempt to distract from his contempt of court charges that he has been facing as well.”
Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Miami Gardens Democrat, also predicted the haphazardly created camp would prove inadequate at humanely housing migrants, many of whom have broken no criminal laws but are being swept up in a mass deportation push by the Trump administration.
“Let’s be clear that Florida is building a prison camp in the Everglades under the soft cover of an ‘emergency,’” Jones said, “with zero transparency, zero legislative oversight, zero accountability.”
“They’re locking people in a swamp in extreme heat with no clear plan for humane conditions,” he added. “Many of these individuals are here legally or have never been given due process. Even if they weren’t, the Constitution still promises fair treatment. Detention isn’t a license for abuse, and calling this leadership is an absolute joke.”
As Democrats criticized the proposal, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity sued Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, along with Miami-Dade County and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), over environmental concerns about opening the center in the Everglades.
Additionally, the Miccosukee Tribe and other Native American groups questioned opening the center on ancestral lands.
Democratic officials over the last several days piled on further criticism of the plan. Rep. Dan Daley, a Coral Springs Democrat, blasted Uthmeier’s role. “Proposing a detention facility in the middle of our precious Everglades — a plan as unserious as it is irresponsible.”
Berman suggested that the Legislature should revisit the Emergency Powers Act allowing the administration to redirect emergency funding for immigration enforcement. She noted that the legislation requires the Governor to confirm every 60 days that an emergency has continued for his legal authority to be sustained.
“There might be some legislation that we want to press about when it is an emergency,” Berman said. “And then the other big part of our legislative oversight is we have the power of the purse.”
Republicans dismissed Berman’s questions about the use of executive power.
“She didn’t care when her fellow Democrats left the border open for criminals to come in and murder people like Laken Riley. That’s truly dangerous,” posted Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power, referencing an increase in immigration under former President Joe Biden and the murder of a Georgia college student by an undocumented immigrant.
Smith, though, said the current push against immigrants by Republicans extends far beyond those committing violent crimes.
“The Trump campaign promised to target violent criminals to keep our public safe. Instead, what they have done is they have implemented a mass deportation scheme that goes after cooks and hospitality workers and teachers,” Smith said.
“Now we have the Department of Children and Families reporting children and youth to ICE. They’re going after folks who just had legal status, who followed the rules and were given temporary protected status or parole protected status, who have suddenly seen that protected legal status revoked.”
