Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center is set to receive its first group of immigrants
'Alligator Alcatraz will be checking in hundreds of criminal illegal aliens tonight," Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier said on the X social media platform. "Next stop: back to where they came from.'
The facility, at an airport used for training, will have a capacity of about 3,000 detainees when fully operational, according to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said. The center was built in eight days over 10 miles (16 kilometers) of Everglades. It features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire and 400 security personnel.
Environmental groups and Native American tribes have protested against the center, contending it is a threat to the fragile Everglades system, would be cruel to detainees because of heat and mosquitoes, and is on land the tribes consider sacred.
DeSantis and other state officials say locating the facility in the rugged and remote Florida Everglades is meant as a deterrent, and naming it after the notorious federal prison of Alcatraz, an island fortress known for its brutal conditions, is meant to send a message. It's another sign of how the Trump administration and its allies are relying on scare tactics to try to persuade people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily.
State and federal officials have touted the plans on social media and conservative airwaves, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and 'guarded' by alligators wearing hats labeled 'ICE' for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility's name.
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Anderson reported from St. Petersburg, Florida.
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28 minutes ago
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Weinstein victim lawyer: Don't let Diddy case fool you. MeToo is alive and well
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an hour ago
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2 hours ago
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LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. tax and spending bill passed on July 3 is expected to add more than $3 trillion to the country's deficit over the next decade. If the current debt trajectory continues unabated, it could set off a slow motion debt spiral that could endanger the Federal Reserve's independence. The sobering long-term debt projections of the Congressional Budget Office, opens new tab may actually understate the likely impact on U.S. debt-to-GDP levels of President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill". The CBO based its estimate on the assumption that temporary increases in government spending and tax cuts will sunset at a projected date. But this new budget bill, which extended previous tax cuts and other measures, has shown that this sunset often never arrives. Thus, the long-term projections in the U.S. Treasury's annual financial report, opens new tab may be more realistic since they assume the current rate of government spending will continue indefinitely. In the Treasury forecast, the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to increase to over 200% in 2050 compared to the CBO's estimate of around 145%. Scarier still, the Treasury forecasts that the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio will reach 535% by 2100 if current spending plans continue. Proponents of tax cuts argue that they boost GDP growth and thus will slow the rise in debt-to-GDP, but the CBO estimates that the House Bill will only increase real GDP by an average of 0.5%, opens new tab over 10 years or 0.04% per year relative to the CBO's January 2025 projections. The Tax Foundation estimates that the Senate Bill will boost GDP growth by 1.2%, opens new tab in the 'long run'. That hardly makes a difference compared to an expected debt increase totalling almost 10% of GDP. If today's debt dynamics persist, the risk premiums in the U.S. Treasury market will almost certainly climb over the long run. Economists Martin Ademmer and Jamie Rush, opens new tab have analysed the drivers of 10-year Treasury real yields since 1970. They concluded that investors typically demand more risk compensation as the U.S. deficit increases, especially when there is competition from an ample supply of safe assets globally. Thus, Treasury yields rise. Their analysis concludes that these two factors together lifted the natural 10-year real yield for Treasuries by 1.3 percentage points between 2005 and 2023. If the deficit projections for the next decade are realized, this trend should continue. With all this in mind, it was notable that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week, opens new tab that he would not boost long-term Treasury bond sales given today's high interest rates. Since the pandemic, the average duration of U.S. government debt has declined significantly as the Treasury has favoured bills over longer-term instruments in an effort to keep interest expenses under control. One reading of Bessent's comments is that the Treasury is concerned about the country's ability to continue servicing its long-term debts if it borrows at today's elevated yields, a message that could push Treasuries' risk premium even higher, making long-term borrowing even less tenable. This reminds me of a similar episode in which a heavily indebted country faced a sudden spike in its already large deficit. As investors lost trust in the country's ability to pay back its debt, long-term yields rose, which in turn forced the government to issue debt at shorter and shorter maturities. This signalled to the market that the government would struggle to pay the existing debt, and this pushed long-term government bond yields even higher. The country's debt entered a doom loop. The country in question: Greece after the 2009 financial crisis. To be clear, I do not expect the U.S. to experience a similar implosion. There are crucial differences between the U.S. and Greece that should prevent this, not least the ability of the U.S. to devalue the dollar and inflate away some of its debt. Greece, as a euro zone member, had no such flexibility. But the new U.S. budget increases the possibility that the U.S. could face a similar debt drama, only in slow motion. If long-term Treasury yields remain higher for longer, the Treasury is apt to continue shortening the duration of its debt. This, in turn, could create a vicious cycle by making government interest expenses more volatile, further imperiling U.S. fiscal health and making longer-term debt even riskier. There appear to be three main off ramps for the U.S. One: politicians could become fiscally prudent and significantly reduce the deficit to a sustainable level. This seems unlikely given both parties' recent track records. Two: the Treasury could impose capital controls to artificially increase demand for Treasuries. 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ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI, opens new tab can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn,, opens new tab and X., opens new tab
