President Donald Trump on Tuesday, July 1, toured a new immigration detention center surrounded by alligator-filled swamps in the Florida Everglades, suggesting it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration races to expand the infrastructure necessary for increasing deportations.
Trump said he’d like to see similar facilities in "really, many states" and raised the prospect of also deporting US citizens. He even endorsed having Florida National Guard forces possibly serve as immigration judges to ensure migrants are ejected from the country even faster.
"Pretty soon, this facility will handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet," Trump said of the Florida site known as "Alligator Alcatraz." The president said the moniker is "very appropriate because I looked outside and that’s not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon." "The only way out, really, is deportation," Trump added.
Hundreds of protesters converged outside the site − a remote airstrip with tents and trailers. They waved signs calling for the humane treatment of migrants as well as the protection of the expansive preserve that is home to a few Native American tribes and many endangered animal species.
The White House has delighted in the area's remoteness − about 80 kilometers west of Miami − and the fact that it is teeming with pythons and alligators. It hopes to convey a message to detainees and the rest of the world that repercussions will be severe if the immigration laws of the United States are not followed.
Before arriving, Trump even joked of migrants being held there, "We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison." "Don’t run in a straight line. Run like this," Trump said, as he moved his hand in a zigzag motion. "And you know what? Your chances go up about 1%."
Trump on his tour walked through medical facilities and other parts of the detention center, then held a lengthy roundtable where Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and assorted state and federal officials heaped him with praise.
Authorities originally suggested it could house up to 5,000 detainees upon completion, but DeSantis said it would actually hold around 3,000, with some starting to arrive Wednesday.
The center was built in eight days over 16 kilometers of the Everglades. It features more than 200 security cameras, 8,500 meters of barbed wire and 400 security personnel.