‘Alligator Alcatraz’ brings Republican foes together to promote Donald Trump immigration agenda

The opening of a migrant detention center in the Everglades attracted sometimes divided factions of Florida’s Republican leadership.

That starts with President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who hung close with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a tour of the “Alligator Alcatraz” facility. The two Florida politicians previously competed for the Republican nomination for President. But on Tuesday, they stressed a personal and political connection with one another.

Additionally, Trump also praised Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier at the event. Uthmeier, appointed to his Cabinet post this year by DeSantis, approached the Homeland Security Department with the idea of converting the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport into a migrant detention center.

“You do a very good job. I hear good things,” Trump told Uthmeier at a roundtable at the facility. “I hear good things about you from Ron, too. No, you really do. He’s even a good-looking guy. That guy’s got a future, huh? Good job, James, I hear you. You’re really, really fantastic.”

Uthmeier managed DeSantis’ presidential campaign. But he heaped praise on Trump as well, suggesting that the President’s desire to reopen the federal Alcatraz prison in California inspired the “Alligator Alcatraz” project.

“I don’t know if that can happen or not, but we thought, hey, we’ve got our own natural Alcatraz in the middle of the Everglades,” he said.

Trump also shouted out some officials in the crowd who have a hostile relationship to DeSantis, notably Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez. And many with troubled relationships with the Governor joined him for a roundtable on immigration enforcement.

The event was populated with many political leaders in Florida who stuck with Trump over DeSantis during the Presidential Primary last year. That included U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Naples Republican who endorsed Trump over DeSantis and is now running to succeed DeSantis as Governor.

“This facility primarily goes to address some of that backlog and then to help us fulfill the mission that the President has led us to,” Donalds said. “So Governor, thank you for your leadership, and thank you for your decisive action on this.”

DeSantis and Donalds shared a stage amid speculation that DeSantis’ wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, will run for Governor next year against the Congressman in a Primary.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, another rumored contender for Governor, spoke months after a public fight over whether he or the Governor should oversee immigration enforcement in the state. Ultimately, Florida leaders enacted a compromise giving the Governor and Cabinet combined oversight.

“As a member of the immigration board and as the Commissioner of Agriculture of this state, I’ve been happy to help lead with the Governor and the rest of the Cabinet on this issue,” Simpson said.

State Sen. Joe Gruters, the first lawmaker to endorse Trump over DeSantis, now serves on Trump’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. He discussed the tension over that immigration bill, which he helped craft amid talks with the White House.

“I give the Governor, Ron DeSantis, a lot of credit for stepping up and making sure that we all work together,” Gruters said. “At the end of the day, even if sometimes there are skirmishes as a result of the back-and-forth, we ended up with a better bill, and we all win, and what we’re doing here in Florida hopefully will happen all across the country.”