(The Center Square) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Friday that state law enforcement officers “have apprehended almost 3,000 illegal aliens,” with 500 of them having criminal records.

DeSantis also said at a news conference in Orlando that 600 of them have been processed through the detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades. The prison has drawn protests from Democrats concerned with what they term “human rights violations.”