First 100 Illegal Immigrants Deported from ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ as DHS Starts Flights

By T.J. Muscaro

BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE, Fla.—The first 100 deportations of illegal immigrants held at Alligator Alcatraz have occurred, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began to conduct flights from the detention center, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Flights out of Alligator Alcatraz by DHS have begun,” DeSantis announced during a press conference at the detention center on July 25.

“We’ve already had a number of flights the last few days. We’ve had hundreds of illegals … removed from here.”

The governor clarified that 100 people were “fully deported” directly from Alligator Alcatraz, while the rest were transferred to other deportation points in states such as Louisiana, which are considered “hubs.”

Those several hundred illegal immigrants from various nations left on two or three flights, DeSantis said, and the frequency of flights is expected to increase.

“The whole purpose is to make this be a place that can facilitate increased frequency and numbers of deportations of illegal aliens, that is the goal,” he said.

“And one of the reasons why this was a sensible spot is because you have this runway that’s right here. You don’t have to drive up an hour to an airport. You go a couple of thousand feet, and they can be on a plane and out of here.”

Designed to be Florida’s new all-in-one illegal immigration detention, processing, and deportation facility, Alligator Alcatraz has been open for less than a month.

The Department of Emergency Management rapidly built the temporary structures at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport under emergency powers granted by the governor and a green light from the Department of Homeland Security.

Kevin Guthrie, executive director of Florida’s emergency management, said that the facility currently holds 2,000 illegal immigrants and is expected to increase that capacity to a maximum of 4,000.

Meanwhile, DHS continues to offer illegal immigrants the opportunity to self-deport at the government’s expense by using the Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app.

Authorities have said that all illegal immigrants become ineligible to take advantage of the self-deportation offer if they are apprehended and detained.

“If you are arrested and you come to a place like Alligator Alcatraz, you are not eligible for CBP,” said Larry Keefe, executive director of Florida’s state board of immigration enforcement.

Keefe warned illegal immigrants that the days of “catch and release” are done, as severe limitations have been put on bond releases.

DeSantis, Guthrie, and Blaise Ingolglia, Florida’s new chief financial officer, addressed several reports about cost, environmental impact, and hurricane preparedness.

In terms of how much combating illegal immigration would cost the taxpayer, Ingolglia said that they would not be there if it weren’t for the “de facto open border” policy of the Biden administration.

“We are doing what is necessary,” he said.

“We are doing what is right to make sure that we stem and stop illegal immigration.

“This facility and what we are doing at a state and national level should be a deterrent to make sure that illegals do not continue crossing over the border.

“I am not going to sit here, and I’m not going to apologize for removing criminal illegal aliens from the United States.”

Operations at the facility were expected to cost around $450 million per year, with the state being reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

DeSantis said that reimbursement will be treated the same as any other reimbursement handled by FEMA.

According to Guthrie, Alligator Alcatraz’s facilities were built to withstand a Category 2 hurricane, and he emphasized to the media that emergency management have evacuation plans in place if the site found itself in the path of a Category 3 hurricane or stronger.

The governor touted the facility as part of a nationwide plan to expedite processing of apprehended illegal immigrants and expand abilities to detain them while they undergo that processing rather than continue the bond-heavy “catch and release” system practiced under the Biden administration.

When asked by The Epoch Times about how expedited he thought the deportation process could get, DeSantis said that it begins with those illegal immigrants who have already been ordered to leave.

“We have 50,000, 70,000, 80,000 illegals that are on final orders of removal already in Florida at a minimum,” he said, adding that optimization would allow authorities to expeditiously “burn through” those numbers.

As for others still going through their processing, he said, “We want to be part of helping supplement that process with our personnel to be able to move that back quickly.”

Along with passing legislation ensuring that all levels of Florida’s law enforcement cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DeSantis also earned President Donald Trump’s approval to have members of the National Guard become deputized as immigration judges.

However, those judges still have to be approved by the Department of Justice.

“We have not yet had any approval for anybody to be able to come down here and do that, but we do anticipate that happening very soon,” DeSantis said.