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Tallahassee, Florida – In the direction of Governor Ron Desantis, Florida quickly built an immigration detention center of $ 450 million a year at the heart of the Everglades as part of the state thrust coordinate With the aggressive immigration program of President Donald Trump.
The establishment, which was informally nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz”, received heavy declines and a legal challenge, but it was also a boon for the national profile of Desantis and its prosecutor general appointed, James Uthmeier. The two received waves of national attention – and a boost that results in their political stock.
“They lock people in a marsh in an extreme heat without a clear plan for human conditions,” said Florida State Shevrin Jones on Friday morning.
The effort was led by Uthmeier, the former chief of staff of Desantis – which he appointed this year to serve the post of attorney general of Florida – in order to create an immigrant version of the south of the Florida of Alcatraz, the prison now closed off the coast of San Francisco which was notorious to be almost essential because it is located in the Bay of San Francisco, more than Earth.
DESANTIS has long made the application of immigration a hairpin in its political messaging, so that the effort to build an installation which reproduces titles surrounded by swamps, snakes and alligators, is in line with the objectives of overall policy of the administration.
But the effort had the auxiliary effect of amplifying its political profile after a failed presidential offer of 2024, and the fortune of uthmeier, which will be on the ballot for the first time in the middle of 2026.
“It will be a multiplier of strength, and we are really happy to work with the federal government to satisfy President Trump’s mandate,” said Desantis on Friday morning by visiting the installation live on “Fox & Friends”.
The decision to further stimulate Florida’s status as the state that works the hardest to adopt policies that line up with Trump’s immigration program is not new, but the creation of Alligator Alcatraz is undoubtedly the deepest effort to date, and it has come to be popular with the republican base.
The Fox News interview gave Desantis a high-level platform on Friday, but since June 18, the term “Alligator Alcatraz” has received unique mentions on the national and local media about 3,400 times, according to Tveyes, a service that monitors media. This is a clear indication that for the first time since its failed presidential candidacy, Desantis crossed the national media ecosystem.
His supporters say that his immigration policies are good, and good policy is only a natural by-product.
“Other than the economy, immigration is the number 1 of republican voters,” said Nick Iarossi, Florida lobbyist and a long -standing supporter. “So, if the Governor and the Attorney General are strong on immigration and the support of President Trump’s immigration program, this will strengthen their popularity with the base and the president.”
“Alligator Alcatraz is designed to enforce immigration laws and ensure people’s safety,” he added. “He’s a winner for them.”
Trump has not yet experienced the idea, but his Ministry of Internal Security has offered the federal disconnection necessary for Florida to exploit the installation, and the secretary of internal security, Kristi Noem, praised the effort in a statement this week.
“Under the leadership of President Trump, we are working on Turbo Speed on profitable and innovative means to deliver the mandate of the American people for mass deportations of illegal criminals,” she said. “We will expand installations and bed spaces in a few days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”
The White House did not respond to a request requesting comments for this story.
A Trump advisor told NBC News that the president argued “any proposal or initiative that helps his efforts to withdraw the illegals from our country”, but said they did not know when, or if Trump would comment publicly the idea of Florida.
The installation, according to the administration of DESANTIS, should start to house the prisoners on Tuesday, only seven days after the start of construction. He was castigated by Democrats, immigration activists and environmentalists concerned about the impact of housing up to 3,000 people on some of the country’s most sensitive land.
Friday, environmental groups filed a legal action trying to block the plan, arguing that it could have devastating effects on the Everglades.
“The site is more than 96% of the wetlands, surrounded by a large national cypress reserve, and is a habitat for the disappearance of Florida and other emblematic species,” said Eve Samples, executive director of the Friends of the Everglades of Florida, which is part of the groups. “This regime is not only cruel, it threatens the ecosystem of the Everglades that the taxpayers of the states and federals spent billions to protect.”
The land used, about two hours west of Miami, is a little used landing track belonging to the county of Miami-Dade, but it was taken up by the State for the installation under the emergency powers Queesantis promulgated in 2023 as part of its repression of immigration. Under these powers, the State can enter the ground for activities related to the application of immigration.
The mayor of the county of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, a democrat considering a race for the governor in 2026, opposed the plan.
Despite the decline, the administration of DESANTIS executed the plan led by Uthmeier at a frantic pace.
Using its emergency powers, Florida, led by its emergency management division, brought tents, construction teams and portable toilets, hired nearly a dozen sellers, seized the land and said the site should be operational in just seven days.
From a political point of view, the thrust of creating an immigration detention center in the midst of a swamp in Florida has also contributed to fundraising.
Uthmeier strives to develop its campaign infrastructure before 2026 and saw “a collection of fundraising during last week”, according to a campaign source with its figures. The Florida Republican Party experienced an increase in traffic to its website and donation ties of 400% to 500% in the same period, according to a party official. It also started Sell “Alligator Alcatraz” goodsIncluding shirts and hats, on its website.
This comes at a time when the political future of Desantis is uncertain. He is limited in the long term and cannot request his re -election as governor, but many suspect that he again considers a race for the presidency in 2028. At the beginning of 2028 public election was not nice to Desantis, generally showing him the vice-president of the suite, JD Vance, the current route collected, and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also from Florida.
“For a guy who wants to go to the presidency, I don’t know how it could have been better,” said a veteran Gop Polster. “He needed to try to unravel in one way or another, and so far it seems to work for him. I do not know if he has a real blow or not, but this kind of thing can only help with the base that seeks the apparent Trump’s heir.”
For uthmeier, this also stimulates his profile, a necessary step for a little -known prosecutor who is impatient to try to push a serious main challenger. Desantis is starting to obtain national recognition for the Alligator Alcatraz idea, but in the end, it was led by Uthmeier, which attracts more attention from the media accordingly.
“Alligator Alcatraz was a boon for the press for Florida, attracting the attention of Governor Desantis,” said Florida party president Evan Power, Republican President of the Florida party, in a message to NBC News. “An even larger winner is the Attorney General James Uthmeier who was used to television selling an extremely popular idea with the Republican base.”
Despite the early political success, there is still a threshold that Desantis has not yet fully authorized: Trump’s public praise.
“We can win Air Force a just there,” said Desantis during his “Fox & Friends” interview from the landing track in the south of Florida when Trump was asked to visit the site. “No problem. We’re going to do it.”
“I think the president would be impressed by what these guys do here,” he said.
