Florida’s new “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention center, being built in the center of the Everglades, has boosted the national profiles of Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, despite pushback and legal challenges from opponents who say the facility is inhumane and will damage the swamp region’s ecosystem.
The effort is putting the Republican governor back in the national spotlight for the first significant time since his failed 2024 election bid and bringing attention to Uthmeier, who was appointed to office but will be on the state ballot for reelection in 2024, reports NBC News on Saturday.
Uthmeier, also DeSantis’ former chief of staff, spearheaded the move to create a South Florida version of the infamous Alcatraz prison, which was considered to be inescapable because it was located in the San Francisco Bay.
A campaign source said he has seen a “fundraising boost over the past week” in connection with the facility.
In addition, the Republican Party of Florida has seen increased traffic on its website and donation links of 400% to 500% in the past week.
The party also started selling “Alligator Alcatraz” merchandise on its website.
For years, DeSantis has made immigration a center of his political message, meaning that the effort to build the facility, which will be surrounded by Florida’s swamps and their wildlife, is seen as consistent with his goals.
“This is going to be a force multiplier, and we are really happy to be working with the federal government to satisfy President [Donald] Trump’s mandate,” the governor said in a Fox News interview Friday, while touring the center.
He further pointed out that there is room for Air Force One to land at the onetime air strip, if the president wants to visit.
The new attention comes while DeSantis’ political future is seen as precarious. He can’t seek reelection as governor as he is term-limited, and early 2028 polling shows him trailing Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as future GOP nominees.
Trump has not commented on the project, but Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the plan, and the Department of Homeland Security signed off on allowing Florida to operate the facility.
The DeSantis administration said “Alligator Alcatraz” is set to start housing detainees as soon as Tuesday, seven days after construction began on it.
The quick construction of the $450 million-a-year detention center, which is expected to be operational as soon as next week after tents, portable toilets, and more have been pulled together at breakneck speed, has resulted in criticism as well.
“They are locking people in a swamp in extreme heat with no clear plan for humane conditions,” Florida state Sen. Shevron Jones, a Democrat, said in a call with the media organized by Florida Democrats Friday.
Environmental groups, concerned about how housing 3,000 people in the Everglades will affect the sensitive swampland, have filed a lawsuit to stop the detention facility.
“The site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Florida Everglades. “This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.”
The detention center is located roughly two hours west of Miami on an airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County. The state took over the property under emergency powers rules DeSantis enacted in 2023, allowing the state to use the land for immigration enforcement.
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