Deportation flights from Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center have begun, DeSantis says [View all]
Source: AP
Updated 2:59 PM EDT, July 25, 2025
Deportation flights from the remote Everglades immigration lockup known as Alligator Alcatraz have begun and are expected to increase soon, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday.
The first flights operated by the Department of Homeland Security have transferred about 100 detainees from the immigration detention center to other countries, DeSantis said during a news conference near the facility. “You’re going to see the numbers go up dramatically,” he said.
Two or three flights have already departed, but officials didn’t say where those flights headed. Critics have condemned the South Florida facility as cruel and inhumane. DeSantis and other Republican officials have defended it as part of the state’s aggressive push to support President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Building the facility in the Everglades and naming it after a notorious federal prison were meant as deterrents, DeSantis and other officials have said.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/alligator-alcatraz-desantis-immigration-264b9d3cf49be876ed6bcb32c07e23bb
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