Emails show that while southwest Florida officials were still chasing rumors about the sprawling “Alligator Alcatraz” facility, state agents were already on-site, rushing vendors through the gates to build a detention center for thousands of migrants — all within days
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration has reportedly left local officials out of the loop regarding an immigration detention center that suddenly appeared in the Everglades, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.
Utilizing an executive order, the administration seized land, contracted builders, and sidestepped standard laws and regulations with environmental groups trying to halt construction.
The correspondence reveals that while southwest Florida officials were still investigating a “rumor” about the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” planned for their county, state representatives were already on-site, directing contractors through the gates to begin rapid construction of the facility intended to detain thousands of migrants.
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A frustrated local official expressed their displeasure with the state agency director responsible for the project, saying, “Not cool!.”
The over 100 emails, spanning from June 21 to July 1 and acquired via a public records request, highlight the swift pace at which the governor’s team erected the center and how local authorities were caught off guard by the development of the compound, consisting of temporary tents and trailers in Collier County.
This affluent, predominantly Republican area is known for its pristine beaches and encompasses the western portion of the Everglades.
The executive order, inked by the Republican governor in 2023 and subsequently extended, has fast-tracked a contentious project by allowing the state to commandeer county-owned land and bypass regulations—a move slammed by detractors as an egregious overreach of power.
The directive endowed the state with broad powers to nullify “any statute, rule or order” that could hinder the response to what’s been declared an immigration “emergency.”
Local officials were left out of the loop
A spokesperson for DeSantis was not immediately available to provide comments on the matter.
Situated roughly 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami, the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport lies within Collier County but falls under the jurisdiction and management of the adjacent Miami-Dade County. The AP’s request for analogous documents from Miami-Dade County is still pending.
For DeSantis and fellow state leaders, the strategy of constructing the facility deep in the Everglades and christening it after an infamous federal penitentiary serves as a stark warning. This tactic underscores the extent to which President Donald Trump’s administration and its supporters are employing intimidation methods to compel undocumented immigrants to depart.
Construction began without their knowing
Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro was seemingly blindsided by the detention center proposition, only learning of it when an alarmed resident from a different county reached out via email on June 21.
“A citizen is asking about a proposed ‘detention center’ in the Everglades?” LoCastro queried in a message to County Manager Amy Patterson and other colleagues. “Never heard of that … Am I missing something?”.
Michael Bosi, the county’s planning and zoning director, responded to inquiries about a possible detention center in the Everglades with skepticism: “I am unaware of any land use petitions that are proposing a detention center in the Everglades. I’ll check with my intake team, but I don’t believe any such proposal has been received by Zoning,”.
Environmental advocates have taken their fight to court, filing a federal lawsuit on the grounds that the state sidestepped crucial federal and state regulations in the construction of the facility.
Interestingly, LoCastro was looped into a June 21 email from state officials disclosing plans to purchase the airfield. Although LoCastro is a member of the county’s governing board and does not preside over it or represent the district encompassing the airstrip, he was puzzled by his inclusion, forwarding the email to the county attorney with the remark, “Not sure why they would send this to me?”
In the correspondence, Kevin Guthrie, who leads the Florida Division of Emergency Management responsible for erecting the detention center, expressed the state’s desire to “work collaboratively” with local counties. The email mentioned an executive order regarding illegal immigration but fell short of clarifying the intended use of the site beyond “future emergency response, aviation logistics, and staging operations.”
The following day, Dan Summers, Collier County’s emergency management director, prepared a briefing for the county manager and other officials, which included some references to the “rumor” he had encountered about a proposed immigration detention center at the airfield.
Summers was familiar with the location, he explained, having conducted a thorough site inspection several years prior.
“The infrastructure is – well, nothing much but a few equipment barns and a mobile home office … (wet and mosquito-infested),” Summers documented.
FDEM informed Summers that although the agency had examined the airstrip, “NO mobilization or action plans are being executed at this time” and all operations remained “investigatory,” according to Summers’ account.
The center is 38-square-miles and can hold up to 5,000 detainees
Come June 23, Summers found himself scrambling to put together a presentation for the following day’s Board of County Commissioners meeting. He fired off an urgent email to FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie, requesting verification of fundamental details regarding the airfield and the proposed detention facility plans, which Summers believed were still “conceptual” and in “discussion or investigatory stages only.
“Is it in the plans or is there an actual operation set to open?” Summers inquired. “Rumor is operational today… ? ? ?”
As it turned out, the agency was already “on site with our vendors coordinating the construction of the site,” FDEM bureau chief Ian Guidicelli replied.
“Not cool! That’s not what was relayed to me last week or over the weekend,” Summers shot back, expressing concern that he would have “egg on my face” with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and Board of County Commissioners. “It’s a Collier County site. I am on your team, how about the courtesy of some coordination?” On the night of June 23, FDEM made it official, informing Miami-Dade County that they were commandeering the county-owned property to erect the detention center, invoking emergency authority from the executive order.
The proposed facility raised eyebrows among Collier County’s first responders, sparking debate over which entity would handle emergencies at the location.
The dialogue occasionally hit a nerve. On June 25, Local Fire Chief Chris Wolfe penned a message to the chief of emergency medical services and other leaders: “I am not attempting to argue with you, more simply seeking how we are going to prepare for this that is clearly within the jurisdiction of Collier County.”
Right now there are 900 detainees at the immigration center
In an effort to clear up the murky situation, Summers, the director of emergency management, persistently contacted FDEM for direction.
While awaiting specifics from the state capital, county officials scoured local media for updates, circulating news reports amongst themselves.
“Keep them coming,” encouraged Summers in a note to Communications Director John Mullins, following one particular story, hinting at the silence from Tallahassee: “since its crickets from Tally at this point.”
Local officials in Florida have been closely monitoring media coverage of a controversial facility, tracking its progression from local southwest Florida newspapers to major national and international news platforms like The Washington Post, The New York Times, and outlets in the UK, Germany, and Switzerland.
As they fielded inquiries from journalists and addressed concerns from residents, officials were quick to clarify that the airfield was not under their jurisdiction.
In an email thread aptly titled “Not our circus, not our monkeys…,” County Attorney Jeffrey Klatzkow informed the county manager, “My view is we have no interest in this airport parcel, which was acquired by eminent domain by Dade County in 1968.”
Construction at the site continued unabated, with a steady stream of trucks delivering portable toilets, asphalt, and building supplies. Among those landing lucrative multimillion-dollar contracts were companies whose owners had made substantial donations to Governor DeSantis and other Republican politicians.
On July 1, a mere 10 days after Collier County became aware of the project, the state inaugurated the facility with Governor DeSantis, former President Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and various state and federal dignitaries in attendance for a tour.
An emergency management staffer from the county sent an urgent email to Summers, requesting to be kept in the loop about any visits to the site.
“Absolutely,” Summers responded. “After the President’s visit and some of the chaos on-site settles-in, we will get you all down there.”
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