A group of Senate and House Democrats is pushing officials at the Department of Homeland Security for more information about the use of the immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
In a letter sent late Tuesday to the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and FEMA, the lawmakers expressed concern that the Trump administration’s decision to use what lawmakers called a “novel state-run immigration detention model” could violate federal law and make the federal government less accountable for the conditions at immigrant detention centers.
The letter comes as the Trump administration has embraced the model of using state-run facilities — as opposed to federal or private ones — to detain noncitizens during immigration proceedings, including using a shuttered state prison as an additional site in Florida, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” and expanding ICE detention space in an Indiana correctional facility dubbed the “Speedway Slammer” and in a Nebraska facility to be called “Cornhusker Clink.”
“Experts worry this novel state-run immigration detention model will allow Florida to create an ‘independent, unaccountable detention system’ that runs parallel to the federal detention system,” the group of eight senators and 57 representatives wrote.
The “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility has been the subject of intense political and legal scrutiny since it was rapidly constructed on the site of a rarely used airstrip in the Florida Everglades in June. The temporary detention center — which currently can house 3,000 migrants awaiting deportation — was toured by President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in early July.
“They have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators. You don’t have to pay them so much.” Trump said while touring the facility. “I wouldn’t want to run through the Everglades for long.”
In the letter, spearheaded by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the lawmakers asked the Department of Homeland Security to provide more information about the facility by Sept. 3. They asked the Trump administration to identify the legal authority that allows Florida to run the facility, confirm the facility meets federal standards for the treatment of detainees, and outline the criteria used by DHS to reimburse Florida for the facility.
An ambulance arrives at the entrance to “Alligator Alcatraz” at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, August 14, 2025 in Ochopee, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
“Brushing aside concerns from human rights watchdogs, environmentalist groups, and Tribal nations, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has greenlit the construction of this expansive detention facility that may violate detained individuals’ human rights, jeopardize public and environmental health, and violate federal law. We ask that DHS promptly provide critical information for the American public to better understand this detention plan,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers also requested additional information about legal access for detainees at the facility and the environmental impact of the site — issues that have been at the center of two federal lawsuits challenging the facility. A federal judge has temporarily paused further construction at the site over environmental concerns, and a lawsuit over legal access was partially dismissed after the Trump administration established a nearby immigration court to handle issues stemming from Alligator Alcatraz.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has previously said the facility complies with federal detention standards.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has lauded “Alligator Alcatraz” as an efficient way for Florida to work with the Trump administration to carry out deportations, and has encouraged other states to do the same.
“I know that the administration has called on other states to follow suit and expand this type of capacity, and I would just reiterate that call. I think it’s important. I think it will make a difference,” DeSantis said at a press conference at the site in July. “The whole purpose is to make this be a place that can facilitate increased frequency and numbers of deportations of illegal aliens.”
Since “Alligator Alcatraz” opened in July, immigration advocates have been pushing for more information about the facility, arguing that the custodial and operational details were initially kept murky to prevent oversight. According to documents released in an ongoing lawsuit challenging the facility, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Florida State Guard — along with private contractors — are running the site under a 287(g) agreement with the federal government.
“While the aliens are in the physical custody of the State, they are for certain legal purposes treated as in the custody of the federal government,” an attorney with the Department of Justice wrote in a court filing earlier this month.
According to H. Marissa Montes, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, the model used by Alligator Alcatraz allows the federal government to outsource detention facilities to eager states and private contractors. While the federal government has long relied on county jails and for-profit prison companies to house detainees, facilities like “Alligator Alcatraz” expand the scale of individual states’ involvement in federal immigration proceedings, Montes said.
“Given that DHS is working directly with the Florida state government on a detention facility with alarming implications, DHS should ensure transparency and accountability surrounding the facility’s financing operations,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.
With Trump vowing to carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history, the use of facilities like “Alligator Alcatraz” contributes to a deterrent effect that encourages self-deportation, according to Montes, who runs Loyola’s Immigrant Justice Clinic.
“We’ve got an increased number of people who come in seeking to self-deport because they’d rather self-deport in a way that’s dignified, right, than at the hands of the federal government,” Montes said.
