Illegal aliens sent to Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida Everglades already have an order of removal, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said during a speech at the Florida Sheriffs Association Summer Conference this week.
DeSantis spoke about how Florida is leading the way, going “so far above and beyond any other state in the country” and serving as a model for what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wants to see across the country.
“And so that was part of the reason why under my leadership with the Division of Emergency Management, we set up this processing site at the Dade-Collier airport in the Everglades, to be able to have a place where illegals could go, get them processed, and then, literally, there’s a runway and they can be flown out immediately,” he said.
President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others tour “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Florida. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“And it’s interesting, because, you know, you hear this different stuff, you know — the people that are going to the Alligator Alcatraz are illegally in the country. They’ve all already been given a final order of removal,” DeSantis explained.
“So people talk about due process, this and that, and obviously, you know, there’s some process. I mean, if you do have a right to be here, then that should matter,” he said, explaining that the individuals sent to Alligator Alcatraz have already gone through that process.
“But these guys have already gone through that, so they have that. So, if you have an order to be removed, what is the possible objection to the federal government enforcing that removal order?” he asked.
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“Now I know under Biden all that was just a suggestion, right? You come across the border, they give you a notice to appear three years into the future. Not much of a deterrent when you do that. And if you did have a final order of removal, they were not sending ICE or DHS, you know, after folks, but that’s what you’re dealing with here,” he said, adding greater perspective by estimating that in Florida alone, there are possibly 50,000 – 80,000 illegal aliens with a final order of removal.
“If you don’t think those folks should be sent back, then you basically just want an open border,” the governor concluded, surmising that individuals on the other side of the political aisle almost want to grant “special privileges to people that are here illegally.”
“Those flights out of that airport have begun. We’re monitoring the cadence of those. We do have the ability to increase capacity, and I’m willing to do that, not just there, but also at our site in Camp Blanding,” DeSantis added.
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