Ron DeSantis on Friday rebuffed criticism of poor conditions at Alligator Alcatraz, the immigrant detention center, by saying people housed there have the option to self-deport instead. DeSantis said the U.

Gov. DeSantis' administration left many local officials in the dark about the immigration detention center built in the Everglades.

Just months after President Donald Trump’s administration quietly moved to undercut a hardline immigration push by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the two Republican former rivals appeared side by side on Tuesday for the opening of a new migrant detention center in the Everglades.