COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Newly released emails reveal Collier County officials were caught off guard when Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the rapid construction of a migrant detention facility near the Everglades last month.
The facility, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” was built in less than two weeks at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, surprising even county leaders.
WATCH AS GOVERNOR DESANTIS ADDRESSES ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ DURING A VISIT TO MARCO ISLAND:
In emails seen by Fox 4, Commissioner Rick LoCastro appeared to first hear of the project as a rumor on June 21, writing in an email, “Never heard of that — am I missing something?"
The county’s emergency management director, Dan Summers called the lack of communication at the time “not cool.”
DeSantis, speaking Friday on Marco Island about Everglades restoration efforts, defended his administration’s approach.
“My administration had a job to do and they didn’t twiddle their thumbs; they didn’t sit on their hands,” he said. “They constructed a processing and deportation facility in a week. How many other places, other states, would’ve been able to get that done? They were mission-focused," he added.
Before its conversion, the airport was managed by Miami-Dade County but sits within Collier County. LoCastro’s office said through a county spokesperson the first and only official notice received was a June 21 email from the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
“Alligator Alcatraz” is now fully operational and facing lawsuits from the ACLU, local tribes and environmental groups.
Responding to concerns about its impact on the Everglades, DeSantis insisted the facility won’t harm the environment.
“It’s not going to,” he said. “This is an existing airport. It’s existing concrete; they’re not doing anything outside of that footprint," Desantis added.
