President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit a remote airstrip in the Florida Everglades on Tuesday that is being swiftly redeveloped as a migrant detention center, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by Florida officials, the largely disused Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport is located about 30 miles west of downtown Miami in the dense Florida Everglades. It could support more than 1,000 beds and be active as soon as this week, DeSantis said.
“When the president comes tomorrow, he’s going to be able to see,” DeSantis, a Republican who briefly ran against Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, told reporters during an unrelated news conference Monday. “I think by tomorrow, it’ll be ready for business.”
DeSantis said he had spoken with the president over the weekend. He also said that remaking the airport has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security.
