Florida Democrats demand Gov. DeSantis 'abandon' the 'Alligator Alcatraz' project
By Sergio R. Bustos
July 2, 2025 at 5:14 PM EDT
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and several other Florida Democrats in Congress dashed off a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis to lodge their opposition to “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades.
They are demanding DeSantis ‘abandon’ the project, saying it will damage the environment; object to it being built on “sacred” Miccosukee tribal land; and are are “seriously concerned about the future treatment of immigrants” to be detained at the facility.
“We urge you to immediately reverse course, halt construction activity, and fully withdraw the proposal to establish any detention facility at the Dade-Collier site,” wrote the congressional lawmakers in the July 1 letter. “We further request that you commit to a transparent and science-based environmental review process for any future development plans affecting the Everglades region.”
“Florida’s River of Grass is no place for a prison,” they wrote.
READ MORE: 'Cruelty for cruelty's sake': Protests ring out as Trump tours 'Alligator Alcatraz'
In addition to Wasserman-Schultz, other Democrats signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Darren Soto, Lois Frankel, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Frederica Wilson, Kathy Castor and Maxwell Frost.
Florida’s congressional delegation is composed of 28 House representatives, most of whom are Republicans. GOP lawmakers outnumber Democrats 20-8. Both senators, Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Ashley Moody, are Republicans.
The new immigration detention center is located at an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades. It’s heralded by Republicans as a potential model for other states to aggressively ramp up detention and deportation efforts of suspected undocumented immigrants.
The site can currently house 3,000 people in dormitories corralled by chain-link fences and topped with barbed wire, and state officials say it can be expanded to ultimately house 5,000. Protesters have decried the facility as an inhumane makeshift prison camp, but supporters have embraced it as an innovative” and “cost-effective” way for the federal government to operationalize enough detention space to carry out Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
They are demanding DeSantis ‘abandon’ the project, saying it will damage the environment; object to it being built on “sacred” Miccosukee tribal land; and are are “seriously concerned about the future treatment of immigrants” to be detained at the facility.
“We urge you to immediately reverse course, halt construction activity, and fully withdraw the proposal to establish any detention facility at the Dade-Collier site,” wrote the congressional lawmakers in the July 1 letter. “We further request that you commit to a transparent and science-based environmental review process for any future development plans affecting the Everglades region.”
“Florida’s River of Grass is no place for a prison,” they wrote.
READ MORE: 'Cruelty for cruelty's sake': Protests ring out as Trump tours 'Alligator Alcatraz'
In addition to Wasserman-Schultz, other Democrats signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Darren Soto, Lois Frankel, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Frederica Wilson, Kathy Castor and Maxwell Frost.
Florida’s congressional delegation is composed of 28 House representatives, most of whom are Republicans. GOP lawmakers outnumber Democrats 20-8. Both senators, Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Ashley Moody, are Republicans.
The new immigration detention center is located at an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades. It’s heralded by Republicans as a potential model for other states to aggressively ramp up detention and deportation efforts of suspected undocumented immigrants.
The site can currently house 3,000 people in dormitories corralled by chain-link fences and topped with barbed wire, and state officials say it can be expanded to ultimately house 5,000. Protesters have decried the facility as an inhumane makeshift prison camp, but supporters have embraced it as an innovative” and “cost-effective” way for the federal government to operationalize enough detention space to carry out Trump’s mass deportation agenda.