Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that the detention center for illegal immigrants dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" should be ready by the time President Donald Trump visits the Sunshine State on Tuesday.

Florida last week began constructing the lockup at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a remote airstrip in the Everglades about 45 miles west of downtown Miami. The 39-square-mile site is surrounded by Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, a subtropical wetland known for its wildlife, including alligators and pythons.

The Department of Homeland Security "approved us doing this last week, and I think by tomorrow, it'll be ready for business," DeSantis said at a news conference. "I did speak with the president this weekend. He's very excited about doing it, but I think what he wants to see is, Florida should not be the only one in this fight, right?

"We literally are doing what the voters who elected all of us have been demanding for many, many years. Immigration was maybe the number one issue, maybe inflation, but certainly no worse than the second most important issue in the 2024 presidential election."

DeSantis noted one of the biggest challenges of the Trump administration's policy of mass deportations of illegal immigrants is the lack of detention facilities.

"When we'd asked DHS what can we do, they're just like, we just need detention space because when you bring an illegal in there is a — the media says there's no [process] — there is a process they go through to determine whether you're in the country illegally," he said. "Some people may have a notice to appear in seven days from an immigration judge. Some people may already have an order of [removal].

"We had a plan that we put out and told them, hey, we can execute this."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who is expected to join Trump for Tuesday's visit, reportedly said last week the detention facility will be funded in large part by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's shelter and services program, created by Congress to support groups and cities receiving migrants and asylum-seekers released from federal custody along the U.S.-Mexico border.

DeSantis also said the Camp Blanding Joint Training Center between Jacksonville and Gainesville in northern Florida is another site being considered for use as a detention center for illegal immigrants.

"We're also looking at Camp Blanding up in northeast Florida, which has a runway and again, similar thing, secure, not going to interrupt the community, be able to fly people out, the feds will do," he said. "We actually flew [illegal immigrants] to Martha's Vineyard, we could probably fly there, but they want to be in charge of that because there's diplomatic niceties that go on. I get it.

"If you increase the amount of space for processing and then to be able to get them ripe to then be able to return to their home country by the thousands, you know that's going to really make a difference."

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