{"id":29655,"date":"2025-07-02T01:38:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T01:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=29655"},"modified":"2025-07-02T01:38:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T01:38:27","slug":"stark-first-photos-from-inside-alligator-alcatraz-reveal-bleak-digs-for-up-to-5000-migrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=29655","title":{"rendered":"Stark first photos from inside \u2018Alligator Alcatraz\u2019 reveal bleak digs for up to 5,000 migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The first photos of \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d give a bleak inside look at the new migrant center deep in the Florida Everglades \u2014 as authorities prepare to stash up to 5,000 detainees in wire cages there.<\/p>\n

Video taken during a tour by President Trump on Tuesday revealed rows upon rows of empty industrial metal bunk beds enclosed in hastily constructed cages made up of chain fences.<\/p>\n

\u201c[President] Biden wanted me in here, that son of a b\u2014h,\u201d President Trump said jokingly\u00a0Tuesday as he was shown around the vast secure facility hidden within the subtropical wetlands of South Florida teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons.<\/p>\n

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Metal bunk beds in wire cages line the inside of \u201cAlligator Alcatraz,\u201d the new migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades.REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI looked outside, and that\u2019s not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon,\u201d Trump told reporters after his tour. \u201cWe\u2019re surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only way out is really deportation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The complex, located at the Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport, will cost an estimated $450 million a year to operate, and the first migrants are set to arrive as soon as Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Some of the cost of the facility \u2014 which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said was built in just eight days \u2014 will be reimbursed from FEMA\u2019s Shelter and Services Program, officials said.<\/p>\n

The site features at least 200 security cameras, 28,000 feet of barbed wire and more than 400 security personnel, officials said.<\/p>\n

Dubbed \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d or \u201cGator Gitmo,\u201d the state-built facility in Florida\u2019s infamous Alligator Alley aims to help ICE reach its migrant deportation targets.<\/p>\n

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President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (left) tour the facility on Tuesday.AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It lies in the middle of Route 41 \u2014 the road that crosses the south of the Sunshine State from Miami to Naples.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only one road leading in, and the only way out is a one-way flight,\u201d White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday ahead of President Trump\u2019s visit. \u201cIt is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rows of bunk beds are lined up inside cages made of chain-link fences.AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Former President Obama said jokingly in 2011 that Republicans were so hardline, they would demand to use alligators to deter illegal immigrants \u2014 and Trump and DeSantis have now made that a reality.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has played up the dangerous gator-infested surroundings of the center, sharing memes of alligators wearing ICE hats on Department of Homeland Security social-media accounts and even selling \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d-related merchandise.<\/p>\n

Around 100 National Guard troops will be sent to the site about 37 miles from Miami to help provide security, DeSantis said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Trump said jokingly that new detainees were going to be taught how to evade alligators by Homeland Security.<\/p>\n

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Trump said he wants to see a network of similar facilities across the country.REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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President Trump looks around the facility in the Florida Everglades.REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator, OK, if they escape from prison,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow to run away. Don\u2019t run in a straight line. Run like this,\u201d he added, making zigzag motions with his hands.<\/p>\n

Opponents have slammed the scheme as inhumane, with one X user comparing footage of the site to \u201ca concentration camp\u201d and adding that they couldn\u2019t see any air conditioning or vents inside the facility.<\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visit the temporary migrant detention center informally known as \u201cAlligator Alcatraz.\u201dREUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kristi Noem speaks to reporters at a press conference in Florida.REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"President9<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem get a look at the bunk beds at the temporary migrant detention center informally known as \u201cAlligator Alcatraz.\u201dREUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"President9<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during the opening of a temporary migrant detention center informally known as \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d in Ochopee, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2025.REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But government officials insist the site will have 24\/7 air conditioning to survive the sweltering Florida heat and humidity.<\/p>\n

Environmental groups have also criticized the new facility, claiming it would damage endangered and threatened species that call the Everglades home. They have called on Florida to make an environmental assessment before continuing with the project.<\/p>\n

But Florida state officials argued that the law under which the groups are suing doesn\u2019t apply to them but only to the federal government, according to court documents\u00a0seen by the Washington Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The local airport is already in full-time use, Florida argued, handling about 28,000 flights in the past six months with two buildings lit 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n

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Trump has called for similar detention facilities to spring up all over the country, forming a network of sites across the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to see them in many states. Really, many states. And you know, at some point, they might morph into a system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With Post wires<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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