Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP / Getty Images
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that deportation flights from a temporary detention center, nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' in the Florida Everglades have commenced. The facility, located in the Big Cypress National Preserve, has already deported about 100 individuals, although Governor DeSantis did not specify their destinations. The Department of Homeland Security is overseeing the deportations, with two or three flights already having departed and more planned in the coming weeks.
Governor DeSantis described the location of the detention center as "sensible," due to its proximity to an airstrip that facilitates quick loading of detainees onto planes. "You don’t have to drive them an hour to an airport," he stated, emphasizing the efficiency of the process. The facility currently holds between 750 and 900 detainees but has the capacity to accommodate up to 2,000 people.
The Washington Post reported that some deportation flights first head to a federal immigration site in Louisiana before reaching their final destinations. Garrett Ripa, Miami field director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed that those deported were "illegally present in the state of Florida."