Alligator Alcatraz

[Grey Havoc]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rvq1eg8w9o

Florida has begun building a detention centre - dubbed the 'Alligator Alcatraz' - to temporarily hold migrants on an air strip in the Everglades.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the facility would be funded "in large part" by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's shelter and services programme, which was previously used to provide accommodation and other aid for undocumented migrants.

The plan has been criticised by several lawmakers, including the mayor of Miami-Dade County, who argued it could be environmentally "devastating".

The proposal comes as Trump tries to deliver on a campaign pledge to ramp up deportations of illegal migrants.

"Under President 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," Noem said in a statement.

"We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida."

The facility is to be built on the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a public airport around 58km (36 miles) from Miami. It will cost about $450m (£332m) a year to run.

In a video posted on X, Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier called the airport a "virtually abandoned facility".

He said the detention centre could be built in 30 to 60 days and hold an estimated 1,000 people.

He argued the location acted as a natural deterrent for escapees.

Uthmeier said in the video: "[If] people, get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide."

The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Daniela Levine Cava, a Democrat, criticised the plan, saying "the impacts to the Everglades ecosystem could be devastating".

The Florida Everglades are a unique environmental region comprising marshes, prairies, forests, mangroves and estuaries. Uthmeier said the facility would not be located within Everglades National Park.

 

[Grey Havoc]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alliga...gration-detention-centers-dhs-secretary-noem/
https://www.financialexpress.com/wo...ention-centre-surrounded-by-reptiles/3890824/
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/24/us/alligator-alcatraz-florida-everglades-migrant-detention-hnk

 

[Grey Havoc]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/01/trump-visit-alligator-alcatraz-watch-live/

Donald Trump said the alligators surrounding his new migrant detention centre will act as free security guards.

Mr Trump is touring a newly-built migrant detainment centre dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida.

Located around 45 miles west of Miami at an isolated airfield in the Everglades national park, the facility takes its nickname for the alligator and cobra-infested swamp that surrounds it.

Speaking alongside Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, Mr Trump said: “You have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators. You don’t have to pay them so much, but I wouldn’t want to run through the Everglades for long.”

The president praised Mr DeSantis, a former political rival, for doing “great” to get the facility up and running within a week and encouraged other states to follow suit.

The project is the brainchild of James Uthmeier, the Florida Attorney General, and Mr DeSantis who deployed emergency powers to erect the compound, made up of heavy-duty tents and trailers, within a matter of days.

When it is fully up and running, the remote facility is expected to house up to 5,000 people and cost an estimated $450 million (£328 million) annually.

The new site has drawn criticism from Democrats, environmentalists and tribal leaders alike, who have warned of inhumane conditions and threats to the region’s wildlife.