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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Homeland Security has started flying migrants out of the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility.
“I’m pleased to report that those flights out of Alligator Alcatraz by DHS have begun. The cadence is increasing. We’ve already had a number of flights, in the last few days, we’ve had hundreds of illegals [that] have been removed from here,” DeSantis said Friday while speaking in South Florida.
When asked for the exact number of deportations and where the planes were heading to, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin delivered a one-line statement to Fox News Digital.
“Fire up the deportation planes,” she said.
INSIDE ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’: THE NEWEST MIGRANT DETENTION FACILITY ERECTED AT AN ABANDONED EVERGLADES AIRPORT
DeSantis authorized the construction of the illegal immigrant detention center on a 30-square-mile property in the Everglades’ swamplands of Miami–Dade County under an emergency order. The property in Ochopee is a former airport that has been outfitted with sturdy tent structures.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management said the site has the capacity for 2,000 detainees but will eventually hold 4,000.
TRUMP SAYS THE ONLY WAY OUT OF ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’ IS DEPORTATION
DeSantis said Friday that “The whole purpose is to make this be a place that can facilitate increased frequency and numbers of deportations of illegal aliens, and that is the goal.”
“And one of the reasons why this was a sensible spot is because you have this runway that’s right here. You don’t have to drive them an hour to an airport. You go a couple thousand feet and they can be on a plane and out of here,” the governor added.
“This airport is able to accept commercial-sized aircraft and conduct both, both day and nighttime operations,” DeSantis also said.
Fox News’ Danamarie McNicholl, Emma Colton and Mara Robles contributed to this report.
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