The US government has deported an estimated 500 migrants on flights from ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ a migrant detention center west of Miami that has now become a “hub” for these operations, according to
“They have deported over 100 (directly) from there, and they have also flown 300 or 400 more from there who have already been deported or are awaiting deportation from other locations in the United States. So it’s like a hub,” the state leader said at the Florida Sheriffs Association’s summer conference.
The governor noted that ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ built on a previously abandoned airport between the Everglades’ natural area, has become a center for air deportation operations following last Friday’s announcement of the start of these flights.
Aircraft operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can deport migrants directly from the site or, if they are “from six or seven different countries,” transfer them to other states, such as Louisiana, where they “segregate them by country” to place them on other flights, DeSantis described.
Although the Republican governor emphasized that this is “DHS’s responsibility,” he argued that increasing the pace of these deportation flights “is beneficial for Florida” because it will be a “huge deterrent” to irregular migration.
DeSantis reiterated that he is “ready” to build another migrant center at Camp Blanding, a National Guard facility in the northern part of the state, but will not do so until there is a “pace” of deportations from ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ where the current capacity for 2,000 people will increase to 4,000.
He also reaffirmed that there are between 50,000 and 80,000 migrants in Florida who already have a final deportation order, a state he says leads in implementing the immigration policy of President Donald Trump’s administration.
His statements come hours after it was revealed that two federal judges requested information from the US and Florida governments about how ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ operates, as two separate lawsuits against the site advance—one from migrant advocates and another from environmentalists.
Both lawsuits argue that authorities do not clarify who is primarily responsible for the center, thus evading environmental and migrant treatment responsibilities by claiming they lack jurisdiction, according to the allegations.
Dozens of activists and relatives of detained migrants protested outside the facility last week, calling it a “concentration camp” and a “dog cage,” where they have documented the detention of 1,000 people, with at least six requiring hospitalization since its opening on July 3.
Image: MSN
