Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it after. The detention center has an estimated annual cost of $450 million, according to a public database.

Sarasota County sheriff's deputies who have received training from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement have been posted to Alligator Alcatraz.

Last week, US District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a 14-day halt on additional construction at the site while witnesses testified at a hearing, part of a lawsuit seeking to halt operations and further construction.

A decision about halting construction and operation at Alligator Alcatraz is expected before the end of the day.

An alligator made a meal out of an invasive Burmese python at Shark Valley in the Florida Everglades, near Alligator Alcatraz, an ICE detention center

With Alligator Alcatraz running in the Everglades, the governor will turn an underused state prison into a second facility for those awaiting deportation.

A federal judge in Miami will hear arguments on Monday in a case over the controversial immigration detention center in the middle of the Florida Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz."

A federal judge is deciding whether to close or keep open a detention site in the Everglades, which environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe claim violates the National Environmental Policy Act and threatens endangered species and tribal homelands.

While a federal judge considers whether to shut down a detention facility that Donald Trump’s administration and Florida officials are calling “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades, DeSantis announced Thursday the state is moving forward with “Deportation Depot.”

The DeSantis administration is making arrangements to hold immigrant detainees at a North Florida prison as a federal judge weighs whether to temporarily shut down Alligator Alcatraz, the makeshift immigration detention camp in the Everglades.

The Trump administration is facing increasing pressure over the conditions at immigration detention centers, including at the newly constructed Florida facility known as Alligator Alcatraz.

Environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe are urging U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams to issue a preliminary injunction halting operations and construction at the site.