Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Thursday announced the county’s intent to sell the land used for “Alligator Alcatraz” to the National Park Service.
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The land used for the detention center is also the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport (TNT), an isolated Everglades airfield about 45 miles west of downtown Miami.
Levine Cava said her administration reviewed the facility and found that its “limited aviation utility, significant maintenance obligations, and increasingly constrained compatibility with surrounding conservation lands have reduced its long-term strategic value as an aviation asset.”
“From the very beginning, I have raised serious concerns about the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention facility because people have been held there in inhumane conditions without meaningful due process, while occupying land alongside one of the world’s most precious natural ecosystems,” the mayor said in the news release. “Once this facility is decommissioned, we have an opportunity to permanently protect these lands for Everglades restoration and ensure they remain protected for generations to come. That is the legacy we should leave.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration opened the facility last July to support the immigration crackdown by the administration of President Donald Trump. In the eyes of Florida officials, the harsh conditions surrounding the far-flung Everglades airstrip and its nearly 10,500-foot (3,200-meter) runway made it an ideal location to house and transport migrants.
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According to U.S. Customs and Immigrations Enforcement (ICE) documents from April, the detention facility had around 1,400 people inside.
Last month, a vendor who works at the detention center confirmed to NBC6 that they were told the facility will effort to move detainees out of the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” by June 1, as discussions have arisen about shutting down the state-run facility. The facility has been the target of environmental lawsuits, and groups say its expected shut down comes as their lawsuit challenging its existence returns to a federal judge who had previously ordered it shut down.
Miami-Dade said the county intends to work with the “County Attorney’s Office, federal and state agencies, Tribal governments, environmental restoration partners, and other stakeholders to identify the most appropriate legal mechanism for transferring the property.”
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