The US government is cooperating with the state of Florida in constructing an immigration detention center located in the Florida Everglades, which is near an airstrip that can aid in deportation flights.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has dubbed the site “Alligator Alcatraz,” in homage to the reptile copiously inhabiting the Everglades and the infamous San Francisco prison that once held Al Capone.
The site will stretch 39 miles in the region and contain 1,000 beds, Uthmeier stated in a promotional video.
Uthmeier additionally said the planned site will be a “low cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don’t need to invest that much into the perimeter.” If inmates escape, “There’s not much waiting for them, other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.”
Florida’s National Guard will be involved at the site as well. Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated:
“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. We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”
Noem wrote further in a statement to The Associated Press:
“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 aliens. We will expand facilities and bed space in just days,” Noem said.
However, Mayor of Miami-Dade County Daniella Levine Cava is against the detention center, which would be established in the county.
“Due to the location of this parcel in a critical area, the conveyance of this parcel requires considerable review and due diligence,” the mayor said. “It is also imperative that we fully understand the scope and scale of the proposed use of the site and what will be developed, as the impacts to the Everglades ecosystem could be devastating.”
