Jesse Scheckner
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is demanding access and oversight authority at the controversial Alligator Alcatraz detention facility in the Everglades, citing health, safety, legal and environmental concerns surrounding the state-run compound built on county-owned land.
In a July 25 letter to Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, Levine Cava said that while Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has “commandeered” the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where the facility is located, Miami-Dade taxpayers are the “rightful” owners of the site.
As such, the county is “entitled to conduct inspections and assert oversight over any ongoing operations,” she said, citing news reports “exposing troubling and dangerous conditions” at the illegal immigration lockup and “confirmation that the facility housed minors.”
The Mayor’s letter includes four demands:
— Immediate access within 48 hours for herself and designated county staff, including environmental and emergency management officials.
— A comprehensive briefing on current operations, contractor agreements, medical care policies and population projections for the facility, which Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office projected could hold as many as 3,000 detainees.
— Weekly reports on environmental impacts, security incidents and population data.
— Authorization for remote video monitoring or third-party oversight to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations.
Levine Cava also raised concerns about the facility’s vulnerability during hurricane season and its potential environmental impact on the “extremely sensitive ecosystem” of the Everglades. She said the county received “no formal communication” before the state began development of the facility and that “repeated efforts to seek transparency have been ignored or rebuffed.”
“While I understand the State may be operating under an emergency framework, declarations do not negate Miami-Dade County’s ownership of the land or our responsibility to our residents, our responsibility to ensure the humane treatment of individuals, our duty to protect the natural environment and our drinking water supply, and our obligation to tribal neighbors,” she said.
Levine Cava asked the state to respond to her letter by Monday.
Immigrants detained Alligator Alcatraz have reported dire conditions, including overcrowding, unsanitary environments and denial of medical care, prompting lawsuits and calls for its closure.
Detainees have complained of sleeping in cage-like units flooded with feces, suffering fungus infections, being bitten by swarms of mosquitoes and receiving limited food and medical attention.
Fluorescent lights reportedly remain on at all hours, and detainees are reportedly stripped naked during transfers. Reports also describe a lack of showers, inadequate legal access and the presence of children in what officials claimed would be an adults-only site.
Some critics, including former Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes, lambasted the project as exceedingly wasteful, noting the state is paying hotel-level rates — $245 per bed daily, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency — to house migrants in substandard conditions while neglecting urgent needs like prison repairs and affordable housing.
“We’re not saying it’s supposed to be the Ritz-Carlton,” he told the Miami Herald this week. “But we’re paying Ritz-Carlton prices.”
The facility was devised in June under an executive order by DeSantis, who invoked emergency powers to fast-track its construction. It was created within days using more than $200 million in state contracts. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to cost nearly $450 million a year.
Despite mounting criticism, DeSantis has defended the facility, dismissing concerns about inmates not having access to lawyers and allegedly inhumane conditions as media distortions or political opportunism. He also argued the facility doesn’t harm wetlands because it uses existing airport infrastructure and has maintained that detainees can forgo internment by opting to self-deport through federally funded deportation flights.
