Sheriff Grady Judd delivered one warning about Alligator Alcatraz that sent officials into a fit of rage

Florida’s immigration crackdown is working too well for the federal government to handle.

Sheriff Grady Judd just dropped a bombshell warning that nobody saw coming.

And Sheriff Grady Judd delivered one warning about Alligator Alcatraz that sent officials into a fit of rage.

Florida’s immigration enforcement is outpacing federal capacity

Sheriff Grady Judd chairs Florida’s State Immigration Enforcement Council and he had sobering news for state leaders during a recent meeting.

Judd told Governor Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet that Florida’s rapid detention of illegal aliens is completely overwhelming federal capacity.

“The speed we’re operating at is like cruising down the road at 20 miles an hour,” Judd explained. “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.”¹

The warning came during a State Board of Immigration Enforcement meeting where officials were discussing a massive $250 million grant program to fund local law enforcement’s immigration efforts.

Judd’s assessment was blunt and alarming – the federal housing system “is already overwhelmed” and “they cannot deal with this.”²

But here’s the kicker that really caught everyone’s attention.

“It’s quite frankly like shooting fish in a barrel,” Judd said about finding illegal aliens on Florida’s streets. “There’s that many of them out here.”³

The sheriff’s biggest fear?

That Florida’s success in training more officers will create immediate “capacity resistance, because there’s not going to be any place to put them.”⁴

Alligator Alcatraz is already showing results

Florida’s controversial immigration detention facility in the Everglades – dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” – is proving its worth faster than anyone expected.

Governor DeSantis revealed that more than 100 people have already been deported from the facility, with another 300-400 processed through the system.⁵

“They’ve deported over 100 from there, and they’ve had three or 400 more that have flown out of there and are either have been deported or waiting, deporting from other places in the United States,” DeSantis told the Florida Sheriffs Association Summer Conference.⁶

DeSantis compared the prison camp to an airline hub system where illegal aliens from multiple countries are sorted and processed for deportation flights.

The facility can house 3,000-4,000 people and has grown “pretty quickly” since opening, according to the governor.

Florida has also been training deputies at breakneck speed – 500 deputies received federal credentials to participate in immigration enforcement in just the past two weeks.

But Judd warned that Florida sheriffs have access to nearly 2,000 county jail beds for temporarily housing illegal aliens, creating a potential bottleneck with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement over detention standards.

Legal challenges mount against the Everglades facility

Civil rights lawyers are fighting hard to shut down Alligator Alcatraz, claiming detainees are being held without charges and denied access to attorneys.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation filed for a temporary restraining order, arguing that constitutional rights are being violated at the facility.

“This is an emergency situation,” ACLU attorney Eunice Cho told a federal court in Miami. “Officers at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ are going around trying to force people to sign deportation orders without the ability to speak to counsel.”⁷

But attorneys representing DeSantis pushed back, saying the situation has evolved since the lawsuit was filed on July 16th.

Videoconference rooms have been set up for detainees to speak with lawyers, and in-person meetings between detainees and attorneys have started.

U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz – a Trump appointee – didn’t immediately rule but set up a briefing schedule ending with an in-person hearing on August 18th.

The judge warned that his role was to address constitutional violations, not become “the warden of ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’”⁸

Environmental groups have also sued to halt the project, claiming it violated state and federal environmental laws when built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades.

DeSantis defends the facility as essential to border security

Governor DeSantis isn’t backing down from critics who call the facility cruel and inhumane.

The governor argued that opposing Alligator Alcatraz is the same as supporting an open border policy.

“The reality is, if you don’t support sending somebody back to their own country who came in illegally and has already been ordered that they’re violating the law and ordered to be removed, if you don’t support that, then you are for an open border,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Panama City Beach.⁹

DeSantis emphasized that people being sent to Alligator Alcatraz have already been through due process.

“The people that are going to the Alligator Alcatraz are illegally in the country, they’ve all already been given a final order of removal,” he explained.¹⁰

The governor stressed that Florida’s role is to assist with deportation, not become a long-term babysitting service for the federal government.

“What I don’t want to do is just babysit people for six months,” DeSantis said. “Our role is to assist with deportation.”¹¹

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has praised Florida’s initiative as the federal government looks to significantly expand immigration detention capacity nationwide.

Sheriff Judd’s warning reveals the success of Florida’s immigration enforcement efforts but also highlights a critical problem – the federal government simply can’t keep up with how effectively states can round up illegal aliens when they put their minds to it.

¹ Michelle Vecerina, “Sheriff Grady Judd says Florida’s illegal alien arrest push is outpacing federal capacity,” Florida’s Voice, July 23, 2025.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ A.G. Gancarski, “Gov. DeSantis says more than 100 people have been deported from Alligator Alcatraz,” Florida Politics, July 29, 2025.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Hannah Knudsen, “Attorneys: ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detainees held without charges, barred from legal access,” Associated Press, July 30, 2025.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ A.G. Gancarski, “Gov. DeSantis says more than 100 people have been deported from Alligator Alcatraz,” Florida Politics, July 29, 2025.

¹¹ Michelle Vecerina, “Sheriff Grady Judd says Florida’s illegal alien arrest push is outpacing federal capacity,” Florida’s Voice, July 23, 2025.