Potential effects include increased light and air pollution, habitat degradation for endangered species such as the Florida panther, and waste spills.

Upon emerging from sprawling facility, Democrats and Republicans provided vastly different accounts of what they saw within.

Hundreds of immigrants with no criminal charges in the United States are being held at Alligator Alcatraz, a detention facility state and federal officials have characterized as a place where “vicious” and “deranged psychopaths” are sent before they get deported, records obtained by the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times show.

OCHOPEE, Fla. (AP) — The first group of immigrants were scheduled to arrive Wednesday night at a new detention center deep in the Florida Everglades that officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” the state’s attorney general said.

The visit highlighted sharp partisan divisions over the treatment of detainees and the conditions of an immigration facility in the Everglades.

Getting their first look at Alligator Alcatraz more than 10 days after Republicans did, Democratic leaders say 'people are in horrible conditions.'

In pursuit of immigration enforcement, the DeSantis administration quickly seized Everglades land to construct the center. A fleet of trucks transported crucial equipment into the sensitive area. Meanwhile, environmentalists sued to prevent the facility from operating, citing potential ecological damage.

Florida's Executive Director for the Division of Emergency Management called out Democrats earlier this week for misrepresenting conditions at the new detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" and overreacting to score political points.