00:00Jack Pagano, Tampa Post, retired Army lieutenant colonel.
00:06All right. All right.
00:08Hurricane Alcatraz, Alligator Alcatraz.
00:13Is it a dead alligator?
00:15And President Trump is not looking too well.
00:18He's looking very sickly.
00:20What's your opinion?
00:22So on Alligator Alcatraz, just understand what happened.
00:24It's running.
00:26Deportations are continuing.
00:28You had a very partisan judge that issued a ruling saying that DHS couldn't send any more there until whatever.
00:37So they appealed we're doing that.
00:39So DHS hasn't sent more.
00:41But all that stay stuff, that's happening right now.
00:45We stand ready, willing, and able to accept who DHS sends.
00:49Remember, our role at the state, we don't conduct the actual deportations.
00:54We process, stage, and then DHS takes them away.
00:57And because we've had Alligator Alcatraz, you've had thousands and thousands of deportations that might not otherwise have happened because they didn't have enough room to be able to do it.
01:07So we're ultimately going to win that fight.
01:10Now, I also announced that we had demand even beyond Alligator Alcatraz.
01:16And so we have this deportation depot up in Northeast Florida, Baker County, right next door to Jacksonville.
01:23So that'll be able to hold another 1,000 to 1,500.
01:28Now, one of the reasons why we did Alligator Alcatraz is because that's an airport down there.
01:33And so they built the temporary facilities with federal reimbursement.
01:37I mean, I hear people say, oh, Florida is out this money.
01:40No, we spent money and we will get reimbursed.
01:43And getting illegals out, that saved you money because they are costly if they go to the medical care or all this other stuff.
01:49But we're getting reimbursed for all that stuff.
01:52So Florida will clearly benefit from a taxpayer perspective.
01:56I don't think there's any question about that given all that's said and done.
01:59But there's the runway right there.
02:01So you literally, you go a couple thousand feet and DHS can pick them up and go.
02:06So that was why it was really attractive from an efficiency perspective.
02:10Baker County is not far from the Lake City Airport.
02:13It's just going to require loading people and driving.
02:16You know, it's like maybe 10 minutes down the road and then they can be flown out of Lake City.
02:21So that will happen.
02:24That will be good.
02:25You know, we're also working because, you know, we were up in Panama City, you know, talking with law enforcement.
02:30And, you know, you're in the Panhandle sending to Alligator Alcatraz.
02:36That's a long way.
02:37Even sending to the deportation depot in North Florida.
02:41You know, that could be three to five hours depending on where you are in the Panhandle.
02:45And so, you know, they were like, is there a way we can get a facility that's going to be closer to us?
02:50And so we said yes.
02:52So we're actually in the process of figuring out how we can set up a Panhandle pokey.
02:59And we're going to have that in the Panhandle.
03:01And so the mission continues.
03:04And so I think like some of the report act like, oh, well, DHS isn't sending any more there.
03:10Therefore, no, DHS hasn't sent us any more since that judge ruled.
03:14But this week we're applying to have that decision stayed.
03:19Here's what they did.
03:20Just so this is so outrageous.
03:22So this is a Collier-Dade Airport.
03:27And it is actually located in Collier County.
03:30Dade does run it, but it's actually in Collier.
03:32So it's kind of, you know, we're the uninhabited part of Southern Florida.
03:37And so you have that there.
03:38It's been there for decades.
03:40So we said, you know, we have been working with the feds on all the immigration stuff.
03:46We have all these 287G.
03:48We've done more to facilitate the president's agenda on this than any other state by far.
03:53But the one thing they kept saying is, look, we don't have enough DHS facilities to stage
03:59and to process before they're sent back to their home countries.
04:04And it's not as simple as just, hey, you go, like, there is a process.
04:08Like, they are getting due process.
04:10Now, some of these people have already had due process.
04:12They've already ordered to be removed, and yet they still haven't followed that order.
04:16So it may vary depending.
04:18But the bottom line is you do need something.
04:20So that's why they said, is there a way you can expand capacity?
04:23Well, you know, Sheriff Lima, you know, they've got criminals, normal criminals they've got to deal with.
04:29Like, we can't say, like, oh, the local jails should just have to do this.
04:33Now, they have done it to a certain extent, but there's definitely a limit to that.
04:37Our state prisons, you know, we have people who get convicted, go to state prison.
04:42And so we're like, okay, you know, we'll work to do it.
04:45So we did the one at Dade Collier Airport, Alligator Alcatraz, because you have the runway right there.
04:51And it was our view, once they were there, they weren't going to escape, and then they could be flown out.
04:56And I think that has actually worked very well.
04:58And they have picked up the pace of deportations.
05:00So people sued, and they said, oh, no, you can't do that.
05:05Why?
05:06You didn't do an environmental impact statement.
05:09That's what it was.
05:10That was the crux of the suit.
05:12Now, the state, we don't have to do a federal environmental impact statement when we're doing business on our own property.
05:19Like, we don't have to do it.
05:21It's not a requirement.
05:23The federal government does have to do it when they're doing certain things, and that is law, and I think it gets abused, but it is the law.
05:29So, you know, we didn't do it because we're not required to do it.
05:33What the judge said was, well, since you're doing this to help the feds, it really is a federal facility, and therefore, they didn't do the environmental impact statement.
05:42So even if somehow we don't get a stay, you know, DHS, they could generate an impact statement.
05:48The impact is going to be is negligible because it's all self-contained on the existing airport footprint.
05:53We're not doing sewage or any of that.
05:55They truck the waste out.
05:56They bring all this in.
05:57We obviously weren't going to do anything that was going to undercut all the stuff I've done for Everglades restaurants.
06:02And so that that was all buttoned up.
06:05So that's what the judge.
06:06Oh, you didn't do that.
06:07The federal government is really running it, even though they're not.
06:10Therefore, they had to do it.
06:12So I do think we're going to win that fight, and I think that we'll have that.
06:16But we're also going to have deportation depot.
06:19We may panhandle pokey, and then we're also looking at other areas.
06:23And so I think the net of this, there's a demand to have way more than just alligator Alcatraz.
06:27I mean, the reality is if this judge's ruling stands, even if we do, even if we continue with these other facilities,
06:34you know, DHS will not have enough enough space.
06:37It will be harmful to the efforts.
06:39It will be harmful for the state of Florida.
06:41So we're very confident that they're going to do.
06:43And DHS, you know, I think their position is like if a judge tells us not to send to that facility, then we'll send them other places.
06:50And that's fine.
06:51You know, that's their prerogative to do.
06:53But it's still being operated.
06:55We're going to, you know, a lot of people have been taken out of there for sure.
06:59So I would just say stay tuned on that.
07:02The mission continues.
07:04We are going to ensure that the laws are enforced and that people here are illegally, particularly those who have already been ordered to be deported.
07:14We've got 70,000 people in the state of Florida alone that have final deportation orders that haven't been executed.
07:21Obviously, Biden wasn't executing any of this stuff.
07:24So to just that, you know, we but you need infrastructure to do it.
07:28So I think I think that that's all going to work out.
07:32The reality is it's funny because, you know, you have like a narrative when it was set up and a lot of people in legacy media, but also on the left.
07:42Oh, this is so bad.
07:44It's so bad that you have this.
07:47Then when a judge says don't send any more, they're like, oh, see, you're not accepting any more.
07:52That's so bad that you're not getting.
07:53I'm like, which is it?
07:54Did you not want it or do you want it?
07:56Do you want it to keep operating?
07:57So the mission continues.
07:59We'll we'll supplant any hurdles that we do.
08:03But ultimately, we're there to facilitate the mission to help the federal government using our own facilities using, you know, our own personnel or Contra, however they end up doing it.
08:16But everything we're doing on this mission, everything we're doing is reimbursable from FEMA.
08:23So, you know, Biden was reimbursing the hotels for housing illegal aliens in Manhattan.
08:29You know, the Trump administration is reimbursing states for helping with the detention and processing prior to them being repatriated to their own country.
Be the first to comment