'Alligator cops': Trump opens 'no-escape prison' for migrants in Florida
US President Donald Trump has arrived in the southern tip of Florida to open a controversial new immigration detention facility, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” which was built in eight days, holds 3,000 people and is seen as a tool for his campaign of mass deportations.
On July 1, Mr. Trump joined Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the remote facility, located in the vast wetlands known as the Everglades.
“Here’s what you need,” Mr Trump said. “A lot of bodyguards and a lot of police in the shape of alligators.” The US president then joked about the danger: “I wouldn’t want to run in the Everglades for very long.”
The facility, built on the site of the former Dade-Collier Training and Transit Airport in Ochopee, is designed to address the need for housing and space to carry out Mr. Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier was the first to publicly announce "Alligator Alcatraz" two weeks ago, sharing a video on social media featuring growling alligators set to pounding rock music to emphasize the harsh nature of the facility.
"The area is 78 km wide2“This is completely surrounded by the Everglades. It provides a cost-effective, low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don’t need to invest a lot in the perimeter,” Uthmeier said. “If people escape, there’s nothing waiting for them but alligators and pythons. There’s nowhere to go. There’s nowhere to hide.”
Its nickname comes from the story of Alcatraz federal prison, an isolated, maximum-security detention center built on a rocky island in the middle of California's San Francisco Bay. That prison, which closed in 1963, was notoriously inescapable.
“It could be as good as the real Alcatraz,” Mr. Trump said of the Florida facility on July 1.
The Alligator Alcatraz facility has faced criticism for its human rights issues, its location in an environmentally sensitive landscape and its proximity to Miccosukee and Seminole Native communities. However, the Trump administration has used its location as a strength as it seeks to demonstrate a tough stance on immigration.
"There is only one road in, and the only way out is a one-way flight. It is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife in harsh terrain. This is an efficient and low-cost way to help carry out the largest mass deportation operation in American history," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on June 30.
Governor DeSantis, who is running against Mr Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, said “Alligator Alcatraz” would use the adjacent runway to facilitate rapid deportation of migrants. “This is a one-stop shop, and this airport… is the perfect secure location,” Mr DeSantis said.
Florida Emergency Management Agency Director Kevin Guthrie added that the facility would be able to accommodate up to 3,000 migrants and could be expanded. He also sought to dispel concerns that the facility could be vulnerable to natural disasters such as hurricanes, asserting that its all-aluminum frame structure could withstand the winds of a Category 2 hurricane.
However, human rights campaigners and environmental groups gathered on the highway leading to "Alligator Alcatraz" on July 1 to show their opposition.
In response, both Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis dismissed the environmental criticism. “I don’t think that’s a valid, good-faith criticism because it’s not going to impact the Everglades at all,” Governor DeSantis said.
President Trump also suggested that the “Alligator Alcatraz” facility could be the first of many similar immigration detention facilities run by states. “I think we’d like to see them in a lot of states,” he said.
