COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. – Midway down Tamiami Trail, at the edge of Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida’s familiar logistics of temporary mass housing are well underway at an old air strip in the Florida Everglades, with mass migrant detention the goal.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the growing backlash on Wednesday.
“This thing’s been used a bunch of times over many, many years, and so the impact will be zero and that’s in keeping with our policy to do historic everglades restoration,” said DeSantis.
The “thing” DeSantis referred to is the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport run by Miami-Dade County, though surrounded by environmentally sensitive land, that has been open and operational for decades.
Plans are to keep migrant housing contained to the already developed portions of the property. Temporary air-conditioned structures and detailed hurricane evacuation plans have followed.
The biggest opposition, aside from the politics of detaining migrants, is about the environment, especially from those who live out there.
“What a slap in the face to the indigenous tribes,” said activist Garrett Stuart. “If we want to be economically sustainable, we would be talking about annexing this land into the national preserve.”
Officials gave a first look at detailed logistics for containing and removing waste, a recycling program for trash and stocking potable water.
“It’s been there a while and it’s been used, and so we had a request from the Federal Government and so ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ it is,” he said. “It’ll be a force multiplier. It’ll help DHS, help local and state law enforcement and relieving burden on law enforcement. We’ll do something similar up in Camp Blanding. That’s where National Guard trains, have some capacity there.”
The state is opening detention space under the same emergency orders that paved the way for migrant transports from the southern border to Martha’s Vineyard three years ago.
This gives Miami-Dade County little recourse over state control of its airport in Collier County.
“It is an active airport and we do have responsibilities there,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
The state indicated that the county is prepared to sell the property at the right price.
