DHS says Alligator Alcatraz will expand beds in just days as protesters fight it

OCHOPEE, Fla. — On Monday the Department of Homeland Security posted on X the proposed Alligator Alcatraz right off 41 in Collier County will expand their facilities in just days, they said, thanks to their partnership with Florida.

"We are working on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations," DHS said in the post.

Meanwhile on Sunday, protesters lined the sides of Tamiami Trail to protest against the proposed immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades.

Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier coined the name "Alligator Alcatraz." The facility would be built at an old airport site in the middle of the Everglades and could house up to 1,000 people, becoming operational within 60 days of construction.

Uthmeier claims the location is ideal because escapees would face alligators and pythons with "nowhere to go, nowhere to hide."

Click here to see Community Correspondent Victoria Quevedo speak with protesters about the cause.

Betty Osceola, who organized the protest, said she wants everyone to be educated about the location and its potential impacts.

"They're impacting the entire environment, and it's very concerning. You know, all the water quality concerns, air quality concerns, the human concerns, and the human lives that are going to be impacted by this project," Osceola said.

Protesters like Grace Perez and Garrett Stuart expressed concerns about the project's threat to wildlife and water quality in the Big Cypress National Preserve.

"I feel like it's taking out space for the alligators. It's their sanctuary. It's supposed to be untouched. They're coming in here and they're going to kill the wildlife," Perez said.

"This is the Big Cypress National Preserve, where I've lived for years and years, it's home. This place was made a National Preserve because of this site," Stuart said.

Organizers highlighted that this same land was protected from development decades ago.

"We fought this battle at Friends of the Everglades 55 years ago. Marjory Stoneman Douglas founded our organization to stop development of this very site, and we're here to stop it again today," said Eve Samples, executive director at Friends of the Everglades.

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