The first arrivals to Trump’s new controversial ICE detention facility, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by Republican politicians for its location in the Florida wilderness, were set to arrive late on Wednesday, July 2.
Since Trump came into office for the second time in January, his administration has been scrambling to meet the necessary benchmarks to fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to deport between 15 to 20 million people. The newly-opened detention center is part of Trump’s latest bid to escalate his regime of mass deportations, beginning to accept prisoners a month after the Trump administration raised the quota of immigration arrests to 3,000 per day.
The facility is set to open with 3,000 beds ready, with plans to expand to up to 5,000. Republican Party politicians have cracked jokes about the surrounding wildlife at the new facility, located in a largely disused airstrip nestled deep within the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Florida Everglades. Trump spoke to reporters on July 1 before departing to tour the new facility – responding to questions regarding whether it was intended for detainees to be eaten by alligators with “I guess that’s the concept.”
“This is not a nice business,” Trump replied. “Snakes are fast but alligators— we’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator.”
Other Republican leaders have made similar comments poking fun at the conditions of the new detention facility, which is set to have no brick-and-mortar shelter for detainees, only tent and trailer structures. Utilities, such as plumbing and running water, will be provided by mobile equipment.
“Clearly from a security perspective, if someone escapes, there’s a lot of alligators you’re going to have to contend [with],” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a news conference last week. “No one is going anywhere once you do that. It’s as safe and secure as you can be.”
The opening of the new Florida detention center comes at a time when deaths in ICE custody are on the rise. Following the death of a 75-year-old Cuban detainee, Isidro Perez, on June 26, marking the 13th death in ICE custody within this fiscal year, the second Trump administration is on its way to becoming the deadliest presidency for immigrant detainees in recent history. At least two of the 13 deaths have been recorded as suicides.
Fight against “Alligator Alcatraz” has historical roots
On Friday, June 27, environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit to halt the construction of the Florida ICE detention facility. These groups include the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, who argue that the facility is being built in protected areas of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
The fight against “Alligator Alcatraz” has brought together a diverse coalition of struggles – from environmental activists, to Indigenous organizers, to immigrant rights groups. The creation of Big Cypress National Preserve itself was a result of a significant struggle involving Indigenous and environmental activists in the 1960s and 70s. This struggle began as a result of the proposed construction of the Miami Jetport in the middle of Big Cypress. Construction was halted on what was planned to become the largest jetport in the world, resulting in the completion of only one single runway. This runway would later become the Dade‑Collier Training & Transition Airport, precisely where Alligator Alcatraz is located today.
“This site has a lot of history. Earth Day was born here. The EPA was created out of here. Friends of the Everglades was born here,” said Indigenous environmental activist Betty Osceola, speaking to the way the establishment of Big Cypress, Earth Day, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were products of the surge in environmental consciousness seen during the 60s and 70s.
Osceola was attending a protest outside of Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida everglades, alongside dozens of other activists. According to Osceola, most of the media coverage of “Alligator Alcatraz” is “just focusing on one issue.”
“A lot of individuals that just arrive and they don’t understand that history, that they say oh, it’s just an old abandoned runway,” Osceola said. “They don’t understand the significance.”
“The [Big Cypress] preserve was established out of that movement to stop the airport, and I was a kid during that time,” Osceola described. “I never thought in my lifetime I’m going to be fighting development here again, like my mother and other individuals in her time did.”
