A new migrant detention facility officials are calling "Alligator Alcatraz" is slated to open in Florida's Everglades next month, according toFlorida Attorney General James Uthmeier. The federal government on June 23 approved a proposal to open a 5,000-bed detention facility on 39-square miles of land in the Everglades, Uthmeier said in aninterview posted on X. "The perimeter's already set by mother nature," Uthmeier said. "A lot of people thought maybe it was just a joke, but we're serious." Here's what we know so far about the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz." So-called "Alligator Alcatraz" will be a site as part of a new detention facility located in the Everglades in South Florida. The facility sits on a 39-square mile vacant airfield with a roughly 11,000 foot runway. It will have 5,000 beds and open in early July, Uthmeier said. He also said the facility is intended to be temporary. "We'll have some light infrastructure, a lot of heavy duty tent facilities, trailer facilities," Uthmeier said. "We don't need to build a lot of brick-and-mortar." Uthmeier said he believes the facility will house both detained migrants from Florida as well as from other states around the country. The detention facility is proposed to be on the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, Uthmeier said in avideoon X. "This is an old, virtually abandoned airport facility right in the middle of the Everglades," he said. According to theMiami International Airport, the Dade-Collier Airport is used as a training facility for "commercial pilots, private training, and a small number of military touch-and-goes." The facility was constructed in 1968 and originally known as the Everglades Jetport, according to theNational Park Service. It was slated to be the largest airport in the world, built with six runways and "futuristic aspirations" of planes that could carry 1,000 passengers each, according to NPS. Construction on the project halted in 1970 over environmental concerns, per NPS. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office said in a June 24 statement to USA TODAY that the governor will use emergency powers to take control of the airport at the proposed site. The governor's office said state officials offered to buy the lot from Miami-Dade County, but Mayor Daniella Levine Cava responded with an "unreasonable" request of $190 million. USA TODAY has reached out to Cava's office. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement shared with USA TODAY that the center and its facilities will in large part be funded byFEMA's Shelter and Services Program. "UnderPresident Trump's leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people's mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens," the statement said. The Department of Homeland Security said in astatementon X that "Alligator Alcatraz will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida." USA TODAY has reached out to DHS for more information about the facility. Uthmeier dubbed the proposed detention facility in the Everglades "Alligator Alcatraz" because of the wildlife along its perimeter, he said in avideoon X. "You don't need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons," he said. "Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide." Alligators are considered a focal point of the Everglades, according to theNPS. According to the agency, alligator attacks on humans are rare and generally not serious. They are typically caused by illegal feeding of the animal. The "Alcatraz" portion of the site's nickname is seemingly a nod to the notorious formerprison island in San Francisco Bay, which was known for its physical isolation as an island.President Donald Trumpproposed reopening the siteas a prison in May. Local advocates organized a protest against the detention site on June 22 for concerns about the impact on the surrounding environment and community, theFort Myers News-Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. Friends of the Everglades, a nonprofit organization focused on preserving the area, started apetitionagainst the proposal. "This is no place to house a 1,000-bed prison, even if it's 'temporary,'" the group wrote onFacebook. "The human waste, traffic and associated development would be a disaster for the Everglades." Members of local indigenous groups, like the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, are also in the nearby area, according to the News-Press. "It's right next to a lot of old people and families and they say it's minimum destructions but it's still not helping when we're talking about the health of the Everglades," Mad Bear Osceola, a member of the Miccosukee Tribe, told the News-Press. Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached atmelina.khan@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:What is 'Alligator Alcatraz'? Detention center to open in Florida