Florida to receive federal funds to build immigration detention sites, including “Alligator Alcatraz,” Noem says

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday the federal government will fund an effort by Florida to set up immigration detention centers, which include a proposed site in the Everglades that state officials have dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."

Noem said the detention facilities in Florida will be funded "in large part" by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's shelter and services program, an initiative created by Congress to support groups and cities receiving migrants and asylum-seekers released from federal custody along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said a largely abandoned airfield in the Everglades would be repurposed as a detention facility to house immigrants living in the U.S. illegally with criminal records. He dubbed it "Alligator Alcatraz," saying any detainees seeking to escape would face alligators and pythons in the treacherous wetlands surrounding the site.

On Monday, Uthmeier announced the federal government had "approved" the state's plan to build "Alligator Alcatraz" and other facilities that he said could collectively house as many as 5,000 detainees. He said the facilities could start receiving detainees early next month, calling them temporary.