The Trump administration opened a new immigration detention facility on Wednesday, described by some activists as inhumane.
Constructed in just eight days, the centre is estimated to accommodate up to 5,000 people.
The remote Florida facility was nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” by Republican lawmakers because it is located in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is surrounded by marshlands containing pythons and alligators.
The conditions inside the centre are austere. Rows of bunk beds are caged by chain link fences, which sit under large white tents.
The tents are situated next to a runway, which is set to be used for rapid deportation flights.
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Trump administration officials have asserted the centre will have a law library and recreation centre, but Florida Republicans have leaned into the harsh nature of the facility.
The name Alcatraz is a reference to the notorious and isolated former prison located in San Francisco Bay, which has now become a popular tourist destination.
The executive director of the Republican Party, Bill Heimlich, responded to concerns that the detained migrants could be injured or killed in hurricanes, writing on X, “They can’t get stuck in a hurricane if they self deport ”.
The Florida Republican Party is also selling Alligator Alcrataz merchandise complete with AI-generated images of the facility.
US President Donald Trump, who has previously suggested reopening San Francisco’s Alcatraz, toured the facility on Tuesday.
“Biden wanted me in here…it didn’t work out that way, but he wanted me in here, the son of a bitch,” Trump remarked during the tour, a reference to the criminal charges he faced during the Biden administration.
Trump also indicated the facility could become a blueprint for similar centres planned in Alabama and Louisiana.
Activist pushback
Environmental and indigenous activists have campaigned against the construction of the facility.
Around a hundred protestors demonstrated against Trump’s visit on Tuesday.
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Mae’anna Osceola-Hart, a speaker at the protest who identified as a member of the Miccosukee and Seminole people, said that indigenous people stood in solidarity with undocumented migrants against human rights violations.
“We demand the evacuation and disassembly of the detention centre that will inevitably damage the ecosystem, the city of Miami’s primary source of drinking water,” Osceola-Hart also said.
Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental groups sued the Department of Homeland Security over similar ecological concerns.
They alleged that the facility’s creators failed to investigate the environmental impact of the detention centre.
“[The facility] will use and impair the Big Cypress National Preserve by causing direct and indirect harm to its wetlands, wildlife, and air and water quality. These impacts will result in the degradation of the natural, scenic, hydrologic, floral, and faunal, and recreational values,” the lawsuit says.
