O’Copy, Fla. (AP) — The first group of immigrants was scheduled to arrive at a new detention center deep in Florida’s Everglades Wednesday night.
“Alligator Alcatraz will check in hundreds of illegal criminals tonight,” Florida Republican Attorney General James Usmier said on the X social media platform. “Next stop: I’ll go back to where they came.”
It was not immediately clear when the detainees arrived or where they came from. They had been taken to the bus facility, officials said.
According to Republican Gov. Ron Desantis, the facilities at the airport used for training are capable of approximately 3,000 detainees when fully operational. The center was built over 8 days over 10 miles (16 kilometers) of the Everglades. It features over 200 security cameras, over 28,000 feet of barbed wire and 400 security personnel.
Environmental groups and Native American tribes are protesting the Center, claiming that it is a threat to the vulnerable Everglades system, cruel to detainees because of the heat and mosquitoes, and that they are on lands that the tribe considers sacred.
It is also located in a prone to heavy rainfall, causing flooding in the tents on Tuesday when President Donald Trump visited to mark the opening. State officials say the complex could withstand a Category 2 hurricane packing winds between 96-110 mph (154-177 kph), and contractors worked overnight to reinforce flooded areas.
DeSantis and other state officials say finding a facility in the rugged, far away Florida Everglades is intended as a deterrent, and is intended to send a message by naming and calling the infamous federal prison in Alcatraz, an island fortress known for its brutal circumstances. It’s another indication of how the Trump administration and its allies are relying on scary tactics to illegally persuade people in the country to leave voluntarily.
State and federal officials promote social media and conservative radio programs, sharing memes of compounds that have been “secured” by crocodiles who ring with barbed wire and hats labeled “ice” for immigration and customs enforcement. The Florida Republicans raised funds from the detention center and sold branded T-shirts and beer coozy decorated with the facility’s name.
