ABC: President Donald Trump said a new immigration detention center in a remote area of the Florida Everglades, surrounded by alligator-filled swamps, could be a model for future projects as his administration races to expand the infrastructure necessary for increasing deportations.
The facility, which Trump toured Tuesday, has swiftly become a symbol of the president’s border crackdown. Migrants could start arriving there soon after his visit, which included walking through a medical facility featuring temporary cubicles as areas for treatment.
Assembled on a remote airstrip with tents and trailers that are normally used after a natural disaster, the detention center has been nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” a moniker that has alarmed immigrant activists but appeals to the Republican president’s aggressive approach to deportations.
“This is not a nice business,” Trump said while leaving the White House. Then he joked that “we’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison.”
Ahead of Trump’s arrival, local authorities were positioned by the entrance of the airstrip. Media vans and other vehicles were parked along the highway lined by cypress trees.
Protestors gathered near the facility, which is about 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) west of Miami. Officials originally suggested it could house up to 5,000 detainees but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who joined Trump on Tuesday’s tour, said it would soon actually be ready for 3,000.
Critics have decried the potential impact on a delicate ecosystem and say Trump is trying to send a cruel message to immigrants – while some Native American leaders have also opposed construction, saying the land is sacred.
