Alligator Alcatraz era formally ends as Miami-Dade takes back remote airport

Miami-Dade has resumed control of the former Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention camp, freeing the county to return the remote airfield to its one-time role as a small airport for training landings and take-offs, the county’s Aviation Department confirmed on Thursday.

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The news comes roughly a year after Gov. Ron DeSantis seized the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport from Miami-Dade under emergency powers he claimed for himself based upon what he deemed a statewide crisis from illegal immigration. His administration converted the airfield into a temporary detention camp for people accused of federal immigration violations, a move the county criticized but did not fight in court.

Florida began moving detainees out of the camp weeks ago and on June 25 DeSantis made it official by holding a press conference at the site saying the detention facility had officially closed. That made it a matter of time before his administration formally turned the property back over to the county, and on Thursday a spokesperson for Miami-Dade’s Aviation Department confirmed the moment had arrived.

The Aviation Department “has resumed control of the airport and just needs to perform one final sweep of the runway and taxiway before normal operations can resume,” wrote spokesperson Greg Chin.

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While Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she’d like to see the airport and the roughly 20,000 acres of county-owned wetlands around be converted into a federal park, that plan would require Florida’s cooperation and multiple regulatory and financial hoops to clear before becoming viable.

In the meantime, it appears that the airport will soon be available for small-plane pilots looking to make brief touchdowns as part of their yearly licensing requirements. While owned by Miami-Dade, the site sits so far west in the midst of the Everglades that part of it is in Collier County.

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Miami Herald staff writer Churchill Ndonwie contributed to this report.