Roughly 70 Florida National Guard troops have been deployed to the newly built, remote immigration detention site deep in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" as the Trump administration leans harder on the military to enforce its nationwide immigration crackdown.
The Guardsmen, already on the ground and armed, are tasked with "conducting base camp security," Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters Wednesday. The troops come from various units across Florida and are serving under state orders, placing them under the command of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The state orders putting them under the command of DeSantis makes the deployment different from the Guard's mission in Los Angeles assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in immigration raids, which is being performed under federal orders from President Donald Trump -- a move with little precedent. It's unclear how long the Florida mission will last.
Read Next: Army Creating New Artificial Intelligence-Focused Occupational Specialty and Officer Field
Encircled by miles of swampland, the Everglades facility has emerged as a symbol of the Trump team's hard-line immigration stance. In addition to the Florida deployment, some 8,500 active-duty and National Guard troops are stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border, including part of the 4th Infantry Division in armored Stryker vehicles.
Trump toured the Florida facility on Tuesday, praising the site's remote location and makeshift security infrastructure -- mostly tents outfitted with bunk beds inside cages fashioned from chain-link fencing. He pointed to the Everglades' natural hazards as an added deterrent.
"They have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators," Trump told reporters. "You don't have to pay them so much, but I wouldn't want to run through the Everglades for long. It'll keep people where they're supposed to be."
Located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, the facility is expected to house up to 5,000 migrants awaiting deportation, at a projected annual cost of $450 million. Human rights groups have raised alarms over the site's isolation and capacity, but the president has embraced its optics -- remote, fortified and deliberately difficult to access.
The National Guard stepping in to help run detention facilities isn't without precedent. Guard units -- particularly military police -- have at times been used to bolster prison security, either as a training opportunity or to cover staffing shortfalls.
Earlier this year, roughly 8,200 New York National Guard troops were activated by Gov. Kathy Hochul to backfill correctional staffing gaps during a widespread strike. Those soldiers and airmen were stationed across the state's prison system, overseeing incarcerated individuals in medium- and maximum-security facilities, as well as minimum-security campuses.
The New York Guard's duties included conducting head counts, delivering meals and monitoring solitary confinement units, among a broad slate of responsibilities typically handled by civilian corrections officers.
However, the Trump administration is increasingly turning to the military for domestic immigration operations and pageantry, from backing ICE in Los Angeles to the large-scale parade showcasing dozens of armored vehicles in Washington, D.C., for the Army's 250th birthday, which happened to coincide with the president's birthday.
Related: Pentagon Again Expanding Military Border Zones, This Time in Arizona
