Trump border czar joining DeSantis at Alligator Alcatraz as operations wind down

President Donald Trump’s border czar will join Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday for what could be the official closure of Alligator Alcatraz, an immigration detention camp built a year ago on a remote airport seized from Miami-Dade County.

DeSantis’ office announced the morning press conference with White House Border Czar Tom Homan, an event that overlaps with reports of the temporary facility winding down operations after sending detainees to other federal detention centers.

While once a bustling state-run facility cobbled together with cages, tents, generators and trailers, the detention camp officially named Alligator Alcatraz has been slowly winding down a year after it opened. Detainees have already been cleared out.

On Wednesday, a worker with one of the state contractors hired to operate the detention center said tents were already being dismantled, speed bumps around the facility had been removed and employees had turned in their uniforms. The worker told the Miami Herald that contractor employees were told their final day at the facility would be Thursday.

That leaves Florida still waiting for official word from DeSantis on what’s next at the detention camp about 50 miles west of Miami International Airport on the Tamiami Trail.

In June 2025, DeSantis used an emergency order on illegal immigration he issued during the Biden administration to seize from Miami-Dade what’s officially called the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. Miami-Dade did not wage a legal fight against the DeSantis order, but environmental groups sued to try and block construction, ultimately without success. For a year, thousands of detainees awaiting deportation were brought to the temporary detention center, with many complaining of inhumane conditions that the DeSantis administration said were unfounded.

DeSantis embraced the foreboding phrase “Alligator Alcatraz,” installing a sign out front of the camp bearing what became the facility’s official name. In Thursday’s press release, the Governor’s Office reverted to its prior name, using the Dade-Collier moniker for an airport so far west it is partially in Collier County.

The White House has been key to the DeSantis strategy for the detention camp, which the governor said he expected to ultimately be paid for with federal dollars. That hasn’t happened yet, with the nearly $1 billion price tag currently absorbed by Florida taxpayers. The state has promised $608 million in reimbursement from a FEMA detention grant program, with less than $100 million paid out so far.

Miami Herald staff writer Ana Claudia Chacin contributed to this report.