How DeSantis administration blindsided county officials with plans for ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
More than 100 emails, dated from June 21 to July 1 and acquired through a public records request by The Associated Press, expose the extent to which authorities in southwest Florida were left unaware. Local officials were reportedly still pursuing a "rumour" about the planned compound, even as state personnel were already on site, coordinating construction and sending vendors to the isolated airstrip.
The sheer speed of the project, designed to house thousands of migrants in makeshift tents and trailers, meant it was erected in a matter of days. One local official, expressing frustration at the lack of communication, told the state agency director overseeing the build: "Not cool!" The facility is located in Collier County, a wealthy, predominantly Republican area known for its white-sand beaches and the western stretch of the Everglades.
The executive order, originally signed by the Republican governor in 2023 and extended since then, accelerated the project, allowing the state to seize county-owned land and evade rules in what critics have called an abuse of power. The order granted the state sweeping authority to suspend 'any statute, rule or order' seen as slowing the response to the immigration 'emergency.'
A representative for DeSantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Known as the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, the airstrip is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami. It is located within Collier County but is owned and managed by neighboring Miami-Dade County. The AP asked for similar records from Miami-Dade County, which is still processing the request.
To DeSantis and other state officials, building the facility in the remote Everglades and naming it after a notorious federal prison were meant as deterrents. It's another sign of how President Donald Trump 's administration and his allies are relying on scare tactics to pressure people who are in the country illegally to leave.
Detention center in the Everglades? 'Never heard of that'
Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro apparently first heard about the proposal after a concerned resident in another county sent him an email on June 21.
'A citizen is asking about a proposed 'detention center' in the Everglades?' LoCastro wrote to County Manager Amy Patterson and other staff. 'Never heard of that … Am I missing something?'
'I am unaware of any land use petitions that are proposing a detention center in the Everglades. I'll check with my intake team, but I don't believe any such proposal has been received by Zoning,' replied the county's planning and zoning director, Michael Bosi.
Environmental groups have since filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that the state illegally bypassed federal and state laws in building the facility.
In fact, LoCastro was included on a June 21 email from state officials announcing their intention to buy the airfield. LoCastro sits on the county's governing board but does not lead it, and his district does not include the airstrip. He forwarded the message to the county attorney, saying 'Not sure why they would send this to me?'
In the email, Kevin Guthrie, the head of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which built the detention center, said the state intended to 'work collaboratively' with the counties. The message referenced the executive order on illegal immigration, but it did not specify how the state wanted to use the site, other than for 'future emergency response, aviation logistics, and staging operations.'
The next day, Collier County's emergency management director, Dan Summers, wrote up a briefing for the county manager and other local officials, including some notes about the 'rumor' he had heard about plans for an immigration detention facility at the airfield.
Summers knew the place well, he said, after doing a detailed site survey a few years ago.
'The infrastructure is — well, nothing much but a few equipment barns and a mobile home office … (wet and mosquito-infested)," Summers wrote.
FDEM told Summers that while the agency had surveyed the airstrip, 'NO mobilization or action plans are being executed at this time' and all activity was 'investigatory," Summers wrote.
Emergency director said lack of information was 'not cool'
By June 23, Summers was racing to prepare a presentation for a meeting of the board of county commissioners the next day. He shot off an email to FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie seeking confirmation of basic facts about the airfield and the plans for the detention facility, which Summers understood to be 'conceptual' and in 'discussion or investigatory stages only.'
'Is it in the plans or is there an actual operation set to open?' Summers asked. 'Rumor is operational today… ???'
In fact, the agency was already 'on site with our vendors,' coordinating construction of the site, FDEM bureau chief Ian Guidicelli responded.
'Not cool! That's not what was relayed to me last week or over the weekend,' Summers responded, adding that he would have 'egg on my face' with the Collier County Sheriff's Office and Board of County Commissioners. "It's a Collier County site. I am on your team, how about the courtesy of some coordination?'
On the evening of June 23, FDEM officially notified Miami-Dade County it was seizing the county-owned land to build the detention center, under emergency powers granted by the executive order.
Plans for the facility sparked concerns among first responders in Collier County, who questioned which agency would be responsible if an emergency should strike the site.
Discussions on the issue grew tense at times. Local Fire Chief Chris Wolfe wrote to the county's chief of emergency medical services and other officials on June 25: "I am not attempting to argue with you, more simply seeking how we are going to prepare for this that is clearly within the jurisdiction of Collier County."
'Not our circus, not our monkeys'
Summers, the emergency management director, repeatedly reached out to FDEM for guidance, trying to 'eliminate some of the confusion' around the site.
As he and other county officials waited for details from Tallahassee, they turned to local news outlets for information, sharing links to stories among themselves.
'Keep them coming,' Summers wrote to county Communications Director John Mullins in response to one news article, 'since its crickets from Tally at this point.'
Hoping to manage any blowback to the county's tourism industry, local officials kept close tabs on media coverage of the facility, watching as the news spread rapidly from local newspapers in southwest Florida to national outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times and international news sites as far away as Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland.
As questions from reporters and complaints from concerned residents streamed in, local officials lined up legal documentation to show the airfield was not their responsibility.
In an email chain labeled, 'Not our circus, not our monkeys...,' County Attorney Jeffrey Klatzkow wrote to the county manager, 'My view is we have no interest in this airport parcel, which was acquired by eminent domain by Dade County in 1968.'
Meanwhile, construction at the site plowed ahead, with trucks arriving around the clock carrying portable toilets, asphalt and construction materials. Among the companies that snagged multimillion dollar contracts for the work were those whose owners donated generously to DeSantis and other Republicans.
On July 1, just 10 days after Collier County first got wind of the plans, the state officially opened the facility, welcoming DeSantis, Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other state and national officials for a tour.
A county emergency management staffer fired off an email to Summers, asking to be included on any site visit to the facility.
'Absolutely,' Summers replied. 'After the President's visit and some of the chaos on-site settles-in, we will get you all down there…'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
Police say 3 officers were wounded and a man is dead after a shooting in Lorain, Ohio
Three police officers were wounded and a man was killed in an exchange of gunfire early Wednesday afternoon in an industrial area of Lorain, Ohio. Elyria Police Chief James Welsh told reporters officers on patrol were ambushed by a man firing a high-powered rifle. Officers returned fire, he said. He said it is unclear if the suspect, a 28-year-old man from Lorain whom Welsh did not name, was killed by the officers or shot himself. Welsh said the man is believed to have acted alone. 'This was an ambush situation' on River Bend Drive about 1 p.m., Welsh said. Details about a possible motive were not disclosed. 'At this point, we can confirm that he's a lone gunman.' Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley said in a phone interview that Lorain officers will get counseling to help process the shooting of their colleagues. The wounded officers' names were not immediately released. Two officers were flown to a trauma center, while the third was initially treated at Mercy Health-Lorain Hospital, Bradley said.
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Court makes crucial decision on Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship
A federal appeals court delivered a blow to Donald Trump 's executive order ending birthright citizenship, deeming it unconstitutional. It's the latest step in an ongoing battle between Trump and various judges in states far over his plan to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal migrants. The ruling from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes after Trump´s plan was also blocked by a federal judge in New Hampshire. It brings the issue one step closer to coming back quickly before the Supreme Court. The 9th Circuit decision keeps a block on the Trump administration enforcing the order that would deny citizenship to children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily. 'The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order´s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,' the majority wrote. The 2-1 ruling keeps in place a decision from U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour in Seattle, who blocked Trump´s effort to end birthright citizenship and decried what he described as the administration´s attempt to ignore the Constitution for political gain. The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The Supreme Court has since restricted the power of lower court judges to issue orders that affect the whole country, known as nationwide injunctions. But the 9th Circuit majority found that the case fell under one of the exceptions left open by the justices. The case was filed by a group of states who argued that they need a nationwide order to prevent the problems that would be caused by birthright citizenship only being the law in half of the country. 'We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the States complete relief,' Judge Michael Hawkins and Ronald Gould, both appointed by President Bill Clinton, wrote. Judge Patrick Bumatay, who was appointed by Trump, dissented. He found that the states don't have the legal right, or standing, to sue. 'We should approach any request for universal relief with good faith skepticism, mindful that the invocation of `complete relief´ isn´t a backdoor to universal injunctions,' he wrote. Bumatay did not weigh in on whether ending birthright citizenship would be constitutional. The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment says that all people born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to U.S. jurisdiction, are citizens. Justice Department attorneys argue that the phrase 'subject to United States jurisdiction' in the amendment means that citizenship isn´t automatically conferred to children based on their birth location alone. The states - Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon - argue that ignores the plain language of the Citizenship Clause as well as a landmark birthright citizenship case in 1898 where the Supreme Court found a child born in San Francisco to Chinese parents was a citizen by virtue of his birth on American soil. Trump´s order asserts that a child born in the U.S. is not a citizen if the mother does not have legal immigration status or is in the country legally but temporarily, and the father is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. At least nine lawsuits challenging the order have been filed around the U.S. After the recent Supreme Court ruling that blocked federal judges from stopping Trump though 'nationwide injunctions,' a class-action lawsuit was deemed the only option to stop the president. The high court had allowed Trump's executive order halting birthright citizenship to take effect handing him a major victory. The court ruled 6-3 in favor of Trump, with all six conservative justices - including the three he appointed - siding with the president. Speaking at the White House, Trump reacted at the time: 'This was a big one. Amazing decision, one we're very happy about. This really brings back the Constitution. This is what it's all about.'
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Shocking statement 'Killer dad' Luciano Frattolin made about daughter as money troubles, infidelity is revealed
The man accused of drowning his nine-year-old daughter and leaving her lifeless body beneath a log in a murky pond once confessed he didn't like being 'tied down' by the little girl. Luciano Frattolin, 45, a Canadian businessman now facing second-degree murder charges, allegedly fabricated a story about his daughter Melina being abducted by men in a white van, but police say the truth was far worse. Melina was found drowned in a remote section of forest in upstate New York on Sunday afternoon, her body partially concealed, after her father himself called 911 the night before to report her missing. Now, a portrait is emerging of a man whose once-polished public image including that of a doting father masked a troubling private life marked by debt, deception, and emotional detachment from the child he claimed to cherish. 'He loved his daughter, but he didn't like the idea of being tied down,' a former associate of Frattolin told the Montreal Gazette, speaking on condition of anonymity. The friend, who knew Frattolin during his time in Ethiopia, where the accused had investments in mining and hotel construction, said that while Frattolin visited his daughter at least once a year, he remained mostly distant from her day-to-day life in Montreal. That emotional distance was laid bare in eerie writings Frattolin posted to his now-deleted coffee business website. There, the accused father reflected on his obsession with maintaining 'perfect order' in his home and how his daughter's 'messy artwork' and 'chaotic toys' disrupted his sense of control. Yet, in a disturbing contradiction, he also wrote that 'she is the light of my life… the inspiration for everything.' Frattolin pleaded not guilty in Ticonderoga Town Court on Monday while shackled in a white prison jumpsuit. At the arraignment, he revealed he was more than $200,000 in debt, citing the collapse of his business empire in Canada, claiming he could not afford a lawyer. His next court appearance is scheduled for Friday. The horror began on Saturday night, when Frattolin called 911 and claimed that two men had forced his daughter into a white van near Lake George while he was urinating in the woods. New York State Police quickly issued an Amber Alert, but soon began to suspect that his account didn't add up. 'There was no evidence of an abduction,' said Captain Robert McConnell of the New York State Police, who confirmed the cause of death was drowning and classified the case as a homicide. Adding to the unraveling lies, a local woman named Rebecca Kulickowski told News10 she spotted a man she believes was Frattolin running frantically up a wooded hill the same night Melina vanished. 'It only caught my eye because as I was driving past the car, I seen a skinny tall guy,' she said. 'He was running up a hill that he was parked next to… I just didn't feel right… our eyes locked when I drove by.' By Sunday afternoon, police found Melina's body in a shallow, muddy pond about 30 miles north of Lake George, partially hidden beneath a log. Surveillance footage from earlier that evening showed Melina with her father in Saratoga Springs, and at 6:30pm, she called her mother in Montreal and said they were on their way home. 'She appeared to be in good health and did not indicate she was under any duress,' said Capt. McConnell. 'The investigation has determined that sometime after Melina's phone call with her mother, and before Mr. Frattolin's 911 call, he allegedly murdered Melina and left her body in a remote area where she was later discovered by law enforcement,' said Capt. McConnell. Authorities believe the murder occurred just hours before Melina was due to be returned to her mother, who has had full custody since 2019, when she split with Frattolin after discovering he was seeing another woman during a visit to Ethiopia. 'She came to visit him while he was recovering from an assault,' said the former friend, referring to a 2019 incident that left Frattolin with permanent eye damage. 'And she found him with someone else. That's why they separated.' Since then, Frattolin maintained sporadic contact with his daughter and struggled to stay afloat financially. He had fallen $26,000 behind in rent on a Montreal property he sublet as an Airbnb, which he used to help pay Melina's child support and is currently suing two property managers for over $115,000, accusing them of mismanaging payments. In a court filing, the Bank of Nova Scotia said Frattolin owed $83,000 on a shuttered café and an additional $97,000 in credit card debt. His company, Café Gambella, which marketed ethically sourced Ethiopian coffee, has collapsed. Despite the unraveling finances and fractured family ties, Frattolin tried to present himself online as a man of vision and virtue. His Instagram was filled with photos of father-daughter trips, Thanksgiving celebrations, and exotic vacations to Ethiopia and Italy. One particularly unsettling YouTube video showed him frolicking in the snow with Melina, set to a lullaby: 'Now hush, little baby, don't you cry. Everything's gonna be alright… Daddy's here to hold you through the night.' But behind the camera, friends say, he was 'image-obsessed,' dressing in designer clothes and refusing to fly coach. 'He was one of the first people to bring a Porsche into Ethiopia,' the former associate said. 'He had a Land Cruiser, too. In Ethiopia, that's wealth.' At the same time, his online biography alluded cryptically to an 'unfortunate event' in 2019 that required a 'long and arduous recovery', hinting at the physical and emotional damage he suffered in the assault.
