Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the state’s controversial migrant detention site in the Everglades on Newsmax Thursday, saying illegal immigrants housed at the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” are offered the chance to return to their home countries at no personal cost.
DeSantis responded to mounting criticism of the state’s migrant detention facility located deep in the Everglades, saying detainees have the option to avoid confinement entirely by accepting a free flight back to their country of origin.
Appearing on “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” DeSantis addressed what he called “overblown” complaints about conditions at the site, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“Well, first of all, I’m not running the Four Seasons,” DeSantis said. “This is a detainee processing center for illegal aliens so that they can be expeditiously deported. That’s the purpose of it.”
The facility, a makeshift tent compound, has drawn scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and immigrant rights groups. Lawmakers, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., toured the site Saturday after previously being denied access, described detainees as “packed into cages” and suffering from heat, bugs, and minimal food, according to CNN.
But DeSantis defended the center’s standards, insisting it complies with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requirements. “All the things that are there meet and exceed the federal standards that DHS uses for these types of operations. And the photos that you show [on-air] confirm that,” he said.
DeSantis also pushed back on reports about inadequate meals. “I think they were complaining about the shade of a color of a piece of turkey or something, and wondering whether the detainees got seconds,” he said. “I can tell you the food that they get is the same food that all the employees get. It’s the same folks that cook it, same mess hall, and the whole nine yards.”
The governor emphasized that the facility is not a prison but a processing center for individuals who crossed the border illegally. “When you’re brought into Alligator Alcatraz as an illegal alien, the first thing that they do—DHS offers you an ability to take a flight back to your home country at federal expense,” DeSantis said. “So nobody actually has to go to Alligator Alcatraz.”
According to DeSantis, migrants held at the site are those who declined that offer. “The illegals are given the right to simply self-deport—not even at their expense,” he said. “That is the first thing that happens there. You don’t hear a lot about that.”
“Obviously, the detainees or the illegals that end up inside the processing center, they have rejected that offer to go back to their home country,” he said.
The state continues to face legal challenges and political pressure over the handling of immigration enforcement and migrant detention. DeSantis has remained firm in his stance, arguing Florida is stepping in where federal authorities have failed.
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