Zürcher Nachrichten - Trump heads for 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant detention center

Critics of Trump's harsh immigration crackdown have called the site in a reptile-filled Everglades swap inhumane, while environmental protesters oppose its construction in a national park.

But Trump, who has launched a tough crackdown on undocumented migrants since returning to power, doubled down on the idea as he left the White House.

"I guess that's the concept," Trump told reporters when asked if the idea behind the detention center was that people who escaped from it would get eaten by alligators or snakes.

"This is not a nice business. Snakes are fast, but alligators... we're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator, okay?

"If they escape prison, how to run away. Don't run in a straight line. Run like this. And you know what? Your chances go up about one percent."

Florida, the southeastern state governed by conservative Republican Ron DeSantis, announced last week that it was constructing the site at an estimated cost of $450 million.

It sits on an abandoned airfield in the heart of a sprawling network of mangrove forests, imposing marshes and "rivers of grass" that form the Everglades conservation area.

Both the White House and Florida officials have dubbed it "Alligator Alcatraz" -- a reference to the former island prison in San Francisco that Trump has said he wants to reopen.

"There is only one road leading in, and the only way out is a one-way flight. It is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.

Asked if the scaly-skinned predators were a "design feature," Leavitt replied: "When you have illegal murderers and rapists and heinous criminals in a detention facility surrounded by alligators, yes I do think that's a deterrent for them to try to escape."

While Trump administration officials routinely highlight the targeting of violent criminals, many migrants without any charges against them have also been swept up in the crackdown.

- 'Alligators and pythons' -

The Everglades National Park is particularly known as a major habitat for alligators, with an estimated population of around 200,000. They can reach up to 15 feet in length when fully grown.

Attacks by alligators on humans are relatively rare in Florida.

Across the entire state there were 453 "unprovoked bite incidents" between 1948 and 2022, 26 of which resulted in human fatalities, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

But authorities have played up the risk.

"If people get out, there's not much waiting for them, other than alligators and pythons," Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said recently as he described the detention camp.

He also described the site as a "low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility, because you don't need to invest that much in the perimeter."

The White House's Leavitt said it would be a 5,000-bed facility, but Florida authorities have said it would house about 1,000 "criminal aliens."

Trump's administration is playing up "Alligator Alcatraz" as it drums up support for a huge tax and spending bill that the president is trying to push through Congress this week.

The "One Big Beautiful Bill" contains funding for Trump's immigration crackdown including an increase in places in detention centers.

The deportation drive is part of a broader campaign of harsh optics on migration, including raids in Los Angeles that sparked protests against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

W.O.Ludwig--NZN