Gov. Ron DeSantis quipped that mass illegal migrant deportations shouldn't take an "OJ Simpson trial" in response to reports that the state of Florida and the Trump administration will close down Alligator Alcatraz in the near future.
"I don't think you wanna go start releasing people back into our communities, but I don't think that that's what their plan is. They have other places where illegal aliens can be staged," DeSantis said. "First of all, if you're here illegally, I don't think it should take like an OJ Simpson trial to figure out whether you can be deported. They should do these a lot quicker, but the reason why you've needed the detention space is its cause its a massive bureaucracy."
"We had to bring immigration down there," DeSantis added, calling it "insane."
The O.J. Simpson trial, which saw former NFL player and actor O.J. Simpson acquitted for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, lasted over eight months from Jan. to Oct. in 1995.
Migrant removal proceedings can often take several years, with asylum cases lasting even longer due to millions of backlogs.
Alligator Alcatraz, a state-run immigration facility and old abandoned airport in the Everglades used to house criminal illegal aliens, opened in July 2025. During a press conference in Lakeland last week, Gov. DeSantis noted the facility has processed and deported nearly 22,000 migrants since its opening.
"Fine, we're happy to roll however makes sense," DeSantis said regarding talks that the facility might be shut down.
U.S. Rep. and Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds also backed whichever decision may be made by the State and the Trump administration while speaking to The Floridian and NBC 6 in Miami earlier this month.
"I think a lot of us viewed it as a temporary situation, and it's fulfilled its purpose," Donalds said.
