'Alligator Alcatraz' provides a political 'boon' for Ron DeSantis and his top allies

At the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida is quickly constructing a $450 million-a-year immigration detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — At the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida is quickly constructing a $450 million-a-year immigration detention center in the heart of the Everglades as part of the state’s push to coordinate with President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda.

The facility, which has been informally dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” has received heavy pushback and a legal challenge, but it has also been a boon for the national profile of both DeSantis and his appointed attorney general, James Uthmeier. Both have received waves of national attention — and a resulting boost to their political stock.

“They are locking people in a swamp in extreme heat with no clear plan for humane conditions,” Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones said on a call with reporters organized by Florida Democrats on Friday morning.

The effort was spearheaded by Uthmeier, DeSantis’ former chief of staff — whom he appointed this year to serve as Florida attorney general — in order to create an immigrant-focused South Florida version of Alcatraz, the now-shuttered prison off the coast of San Francisco that was notorious for being nearly inescapable because it is situated in the San Francisco Bay, more than a mile from land.

DeSantis has long made immigration enforcement a linchpin of his political messaging, so the effort to build a headline-grabbing facility surrounded by swamps, snakes and alligators, is consistent with the administration’s overarching policy goals.