Top Florida Republicans seem to be enjoying their swamp moments.
On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis continued his promotional blitz around the “Crocodile Alcatraz” immigration detention facility the state is building in the Everglades. In X, Florida GOP promoted branded products under the facility’s name.
“Get grabs our products and support the harsh boundaries of crime!” The official X-account of the Republican Party in Florida was posted Friday morning. “Limited Supply – Get yours before the Gator does!”
Florida’s official GOP store currently sells a $30 Alligator Alcatraz T-shirt, a $27 hat and a $15 beer Koozies.
Meanwhile, Fox News on Friday aired a film showing DeSantis, who filmed Fox News host Steve Doucy around the Miami-Dade facility site.
In a Walk and Talk interview, DeSantis explained the need for more detention beds.
“We need more ability to ingest, process and then expel them,” DeSantis said. “This answers that.”
Since Trump took office, he has attempted illegal border crossings in the southwest. The Trump team has devoted resources to detaining immigrants from within the United States and detaining them through the federal immigration detention system.
For months, some conservatives have been increasingly frustrated about the pace of deportation. Earlier this month, Trump officials told Time that the current administration has deported more than 207,000 people. On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump pledged to deport more than 10 million people.
Immigration advocates criticized the Trump administration for opposing undocumented immigrants with no criminal history. Federal immigrant raids at the workplace have sparked violent protests from time to time in Los Angeles and elsewhere in recent weeks.
DeSantis says he is building an Everglades detention facility (which costs around $450 million a year) to facilitate the process of Florida removing those subject to deportation by the Trump administration.
“They won’t hurt anything. They’ll have A/C. There’ll be something that everyone needs,” Desantis told Fox News. “There’s medical care here. It’s done right and done by books.”
