US deportation: First flights depart from Florida; 100 detainees leave ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

The first deportation flights from Florida’s newly established immigration detention centre in the Everglades have begun, Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Friday (local time), around three weeks after federal detainees started arriving at what appears to be the country’s only state-operated migrant facility.According to DeSantis, approximately 100 detainees have been deported directly from the centre, which state officials have named “Alligator Alcatraz”. Though he did not disclose the destinations, he informed that hundreds more had been flown to federal deportation hubs in states such as Louisiana. The flights, he said, were operated by the Department of Homeland Security. The facility, described by immigration experts as one of a kind, consists of a collection of quickly assembled tents and trailers on a disused airfield. DeSantis said it had been fitted with ground-to-air communications, radar, and runway lighting, along with a stock of 5,000 gallons of jet fuel, as per the New York Times. “This airport is able to accept commercial flight aircraft and conduct both day and nighttime operations,” he said. While state officials maintain that detainees at the site are under final deportation orders from the federal government, immigration lawyers argue they have not been granted sufficient access to clients held there. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit last week, citing lack of legal counsel and due process violations. “The US Constitution does not allow the government to simply lock people away without any ability to communicate with counsel or to petition the court for release from custody,” Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the ACLU’s National Prison Project and lead lawyer in the case, told the New York Times.Head of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, said that on-site lawyer visits “should be starting” on Monday. He explained that previous delays were due to technological issues. Environmental groups have also launched legal action to stop construction of the detention centre, which is located on land surrounded by protected areas. Guthrie dismissed these concerns at the news conference, claiming the old training airport once hosted “over a hundred flights a day,” though this claim could not be immediately verified. Florida is utilising the county-owned airfield, located in Miami-Dade, under emergency powers. DeSantis stated the centre currently has space for “a couple thousand” detainees, with Guthrie noting that capacity is expected to double to around 4,000. Should the facility reach full capacity, DeSantis said the state plans to open a second centre in North Florida. State officials have defended the projected $450 million annual operating cost, some of which is expected to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, insisting it is necessary to maintain “law and order.” Critics, including some Republicans, have pointed out that the cost per detainee is higher than in state prisons or ICE facilities. Initially, the state published contracts with facility contractors online, but the DeSantis administration later removed the full agreements, leaving only summaries available. Guthrie claimed the full documents contained proprietary information and should not have been posted publicly. Florida is also seeking approval to appoint Judge Advocate General Corps officers from the Florida National Guard as immigration judges at the Everglades site to speed up deportations. DeSantis said federal approval for this has yet to be granted. Reports from detainees have described poor conditions at the facility, including limited food and infrequent showers. When pressed by journalists, DeSantis and Guthrie defended the conditions, with DeSantis sarcastically dismissing complaints about food, saying detainees wanted “toasted hoagies.” In a related move, Florida has introduced a pilot programme to encourage undocumented immigrants to self-deport, according to Larry Keefe, executive director of the state’s new immigration oversight board. Keefe said the initiative, conducted in partnership with Customs and Border Protection, is separate from a federal scheme that offers $1,000 and a plane ticket to undocumented migrants willing to return to their home country. On Friday, DeSantis said “a couple dozen” individuals had voluntarily left the US under the pilot programme.