Florida General Aviation Airport Becomes Migrant Detention Center: Widespread Reports of Human Rights Violations at "Alligator Alcatraz"
"In little over a week, workers transformed the Dade-Collier Training and Transition
Airport from an 11,000-foot runway into a temporary tent city..."
–CNN report by Alaa Elassar and
Rafael Romo
In addition to Miami International, Miami-Dade County owns four General Aviation (GA) airports including the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport (TNT), now known as "Alligator Alcatraz."
The 2017 Miami-Dade Aviation Department Airport Layout Plans Report, provides historical background on the Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility,
"TNT which was originally designated as the 'Everglades Jetport' is located 36 miles west of the Miami central business district within the Florida Everglades. Although the Airport is located within the eastern-most portions of Collier County, it is owned by Miami-Dade County and operated by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department. Once planned to be one of the largest commercial air carrier airports to serve southeast Florida, TNT was envisioned to grow to an eventual six-runway airport that would accommodate modern air carriers and the [then] planned U.S. Supersonic Transport aircraft. Because of environmental concerns, construction was halted after the completion of a single runway. The facility is currently available for use by general aviation users having prior permission and MDAD-issued permit, but is closed from sunset to sunrise. The limited use and role of TNT and its ability to attract and/or accommodate or generate additional aviation activity is not anticipated to change in the foreseeable future." (See pg A-1)
Per the Executive Summary of a Miami-Dade County Strategic Airport Master Plan 2017-2020,
"The Airport's primary purpose is to provide a precision-instrument landing and training facility in South Florida for commercial pilots, private training, and a small number of military touch-and-goes. It is expected that TNT will continue to serve this purpose and the existing facilities can accommodate the anticipated increase in aircraft operations." (Pg. 21)
"The one runway constructed at TNT is still maintained to this day...Development at TNT is based around maintaining the current airfield with one additional taxiway connector to increase access to tenant facilities." (Pg. 35)
For additional information on the purpose of this airport click here.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Terminal Area Forecast (TAF), the airport logs 14,468 operations per year.
There is nothing in either the Airport Master Plan or Airport Layout Plan suggesting that a migrant detention center was planned for this publicly funded facility. (Note, funding for U.S. GA airports is generated in large part from fees affixed to commercial airline passenger tickets and cargo shipments. See FAA Airport Improvement Program for additional details.)
The Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport is one of 3,287 existing public use airports included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). As a NPIAS airport, it receives federal funding through the FAA Airport Improvement Program (AIP) (see pgs. 1-2). According to estimates, this airport is eligible for $1,234,028 during the 2025-2029 spending cycle (see pg. A-27). In addition, it was approved for federal grants during previous NPIAS funding cycles including, but not limited to, the following:
- $256,250 (2021-2025)
- $2,239,278 (2019-2023)
- $2,165,578 (2017-2021)
Airports that accept federal money are bound by grant assurance obligations requiring them to continue operating as an airport for 20 years after accepting the funding.
In summary, TNT is a general aviation NPIAS airport with designated aviation-specific uses regulated by the FAA.
Nonetheless, the "Alligator Alacatraz" migrant detention center was recently established at this airport.
As explained by Sommer Brugal in a 7/1/2025 Axion report, Florida Says 'Alligator Alcatraz' Is Temporary. Trump Isn't So Sure,
"Despite opposition, the DeSantis administration seized the land, which is owned by Miami-Dade County, and began building...The facility has 3,000 beds, with the space to fit more, officials said, and a staff village for up to 1,000 people."
Human Rights Violations
Multiple reports attest to the inhumane conditions at this facility.
Below are the opening paragraphs of a 7/13/2025 CNN article, Florida Lawmakers Allowed into 'Alligator Alcatraz' Say Detainees Packed into Cages,
"Deep in the hazardous and ecologically fragile Everglades, hundreds of migrants are confined in cages in a makeshift tent detention facility Florida's Republican governor calls "safe and secure" and Democratic lawmakers call "inhumane."
Two days after filing a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for being "unlawfully denied entry" to inspect conditions at the facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," members of Congress and state representatives were given a limited tour Saturday to inspect conditions after calling the lack of access a "deliberate obstruction meant to hide what's really happening behind those gates," according to a joint statement from lawmakers.
They said they heard detainees shouting for help and crying out "libertad"—Spanish for "freedom"—amid sweltering heat, bug infestations and meager meals.
"They are essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans, 32 detainees per cage," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents Florida's 25th Congressional District, said during a news conference following their tour.
The families of some of the detainees have also decried conditions in the facility, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials defend it as offering higher detention standards than many US prisons."
To read the entire article click here.
A 7/11/2025 CBS Miami news report, Immigrants Describe Worms in Food, Fecal Flooding at Alligator Everglades Detention Center, offers additional detail.
People held at the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center in the Everglades say worms turn up in the food, toilets don't flush, floors flood with fecal waste and mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere.
Inside the compound's large white tents, rows of bunkbeds are surrounded by chain-link cages.
Detainees are said to go days without showering or getting prescription medicine, and they are only able to speak by phone to lawyers and loved ones.
At times the air conditioners abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat.
Days after President Donald Trump toured it, attorneys, advocates, detainees and their relatives are speaking out about the makeshift facility, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration raced to build on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. Detainees began arriving July 2.
"These are human beings who have inherent rights, and they have a right to dignity," immigration attorney Josephine Arroyo said. "And they're violating a lot of their rights by putting them there."
To read the article in full click here.
Questions
This alarming situation provokes many questions. A few are listed below.
- What is the role of Miami-Dade County in promoting the detention center and what steps are they taking to insure due legal process and compassionate care and treatment are available to detainees?
- What procedures and processes did the county/FAA/State of Florida/Federal government engage in to turn a publicly funded GA airport into a migrant detention center?
- Has the FAA produced a policy statement on this matter?
- Is the FAA working with the government to use other U.S. airports as detention centers?
- Do governors in other states intend to seize airports and turn them into detention centers?
- Are there legal procedures currently in place allowing governors to seize airport lands? If so this information should be made readily available to interested members of the community.
- Can governors commandeer airport lands for purposes other than jailing, mistreating and deporting detainees? For instance, can a governor seize an airport to provide affordable housing, schools, parks, open spaces, gardens, medical facilities, and other essential human services.
Take Action
Contact your elected officials. Demand answers to the above questions. Tell them to take immediate actions to stop the egregious mistreatment of detainees.
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