Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has voiced her enthusiasm for bringing Florida’s controversial migrant detention center—dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”—to her home state.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday, the South Carolina congresswoman shared a selfie alongside a tongue-in-cheek message to the Department of Homeland Security:
“Dear DHS: We’ve got a swamp and a dream. Let’s talk. South Carolina’s gators are ready. And they’re not big on paperwork.”
“If I was Governor, we’d be bringing Alligator Alcatraz to South Carolina,” Mace added. She currently represents South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
“Alligator Alcatraz” refers to a new migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, built at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. The makeshift center—erected on an 11,000-foot runway—can reportedly house up to 3,000 migrants. The site has been promoted by the Trump administration for its remote location and natural deterrents, including alligators, invasive pythons, and swarms of mosquitoes.
“I looked outside and that’s not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon,” President Donald Trump said during a tour of the facility on Tuesday. “We’re surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only way out is really deportation.”
Trump hinted at plans to expand the model nationwide, suggesting such facilities could become part of a broader immigration infrastructure.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who joined Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on the tour, announced that 100 National Guard troops will be deployed to the site, with detainees expected to begin arriving as early as Wednesday.
However, the project has faced mounting opposition from environmental advocates and Indigenous leaders. The detention center borders the Big Cypress National Preserve, land that is historically and culturally significant to the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes.
“This facility is surrounded on all sides by the Big Cypress National Preserve,” said Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Business Council, in a statement to ABC News. “Our tribe has lived here for centuries. President Trump and Governor DeSantis have been strong supporters of Everglades restoration in the past—but this feels like a step backward.”
Despite environmental and civil rights concerns, Mace’s public enthusiasm signals growing Republican support for expanding the detention model to other parts of the country.Tools
