Florida Sheriff Warns Alligator Alcatraz Will Soon Reach Capacity if Current Detention Pace Continues



by Hannah Knudsen 29 Jul 2025

Florida’s Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd recently told state leaders that there will certainly be capacity issues at the federal level if Florida’s expansion of immigration enforcement continues to accelerate.

Judd chairs the State Immigration Enforcement Council and recently told state leaders that as things progress, there is “no way on God’s green Earth they can handle this capacity,” as there are already capacity issues for housing at the federal level.

“The speed we’re operating at is like cruising down the road at 20 miles an hour,” Judd explained, according to Florida’s Voice. “When we put the pedal to the metal and get up to the speed limit, there is no way on God’s green Earth they can handle this capacity.”

“It’s quite frankly like shooting fish in a barrel,” he said, emphasizing there are a lot of illegal immigrants on the streets.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has also agreed that it is on the federal government to ultimately house and process these illegal immigrants, as the state is merely assisting — not taking on full responsibility.

“What I don’t want to do is just babysit people for six months,” he said, adding, “Our role is to assist with deportation.”

Florida has been working in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain, process, house, and deport illegal immigrants with the introduction of Alligator Alcatraz — the Miami-Dade Collier Training Facility in the Florida Everglades transformed into an immigration hub.

DeSantis has touted the convenience of officially being able to house, process, and deport illegal immigrants all in one place, and he says that at least 100 detainees at the facility have already been fully deported.

The governor has also explained that they have plans to transform Camp Blanding into another deportation hub as well.

“I’m willing to do Blanding once Alligator Alcatraz is filled, and so DHS has started moving in a significant number of people. I think you’re going to — and they’re starting to deport people from there too,” DeSantis said earlier this month. “Remember, this is not the Ritz Carlton, ok?”

“But the reality is it’s there to be a quick processing center so that they can — we have a runway right there, they can just be flown back to their home country. So that is the purpose of why we’re doing it.

And as that fills, once there’s a demand, then we would be able to go for Camp Blanding,” he explained, noting that he does not want to set up Camp Blanding if there is still plenty of capacity at Alligator Alcatraz.

“But what I don’t want to do is set up Blanding, if, you know, one is 60 percent full and then the other is 40 percent [full]. I’d rather just have — channel everyone to Alligator, since it’s easier,” he said, surmising they can “easily” house 3,000-4,000 at Alligator Alcatraz.

“We have not yet received that many illegal aliens there, but it has grown pretty quickly,” he added.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...ace-continues/