Speaking at a press conference this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis revealed that deportation flights operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have begun departing from the facility.
"I’m pleased to report that those flights out of Alligator Alcatraz by DHS have begun. The cadence is increasing,” DeSantis said, according to the Daily Wire. “We’ve already had a number of flights in the last few days,” he added, noting that “hundreds of illegals have been removed from here.”
The site, built on a former airfield deep in the Florida Everglades, was designed to streamline operations and provide a facility with a low likelihood of detainees escaping. DeSantis explained that the site “provides an ability to enhance the mission to increase the number and frequency of deportations.”
“The whole purpose is to make this be a place that can facilitate increased frequency and numbers of deportations of illegal aliens, and that is the goal,” DeSantis added, highlighting that the location is a “sensible spot” due to the airplane runway that is on-site. “You don’t have to drive them an hour to the airport, you only have to go a couple thousand feet and they can be on a plane and out of here.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out that the facility is “isolated, and surrounded by dangerous wildlife in unforgiving terrain,” also noting how there is only one road in or out.
The deportations come as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received a significant funding boost under the recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill.” DHS confirmed the legislation secured $165 billion in appropriations that “will help deliver on the President's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe again.”
