MIAMI - The authorities of Miami-Dade County have officially regained control of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, ending the state of Florida's temporary use of the remote Everglades property as the immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz." We have officially regained control of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport property, the former site of "Alligator Alcatraz." The site began life in 1968 as the Everglades Jetport, an extraordinarily ambitious plan for what was envisioned as the world's largest airport. Four years later, President Gerald Ford established Big Cypress National Preserve, surrounding much of the airport property with federally protected land. In June 2025, Florida commandeered the airport and began constructing the immigration detention facility that state officials dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."