‘Alligator Alcatraz': Florida's $690m plan to help Trump's immigration crackdown
The remote facility, composed of large tents and other planned facilities, would cost the state about $US450 million ($690 million) a year to run, but Florida could request some reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
Florida Attorney-General James Uthmeier – a Trump ally who has pushed to build the detention centre in the Everglades – has said the state would not need to invest much in security because the area was surrounded by dangerous wildlife, including alligators and pythons. A spokesperson for the attorney-general said work on the new facility started this week.
The project is sure to appeal to US President Donald Trump, who talked repeatedly during his first term about building a moat along the southern border filled with alligators or snakes. As he pushed for a wall to keep migrants out, he urged officials to build it with spikes, razor wire and black paint to ensure that it would serve as a deterrent – the more terrifying-looking, the better.
And since resuming office this year, Trump has already sent migrants to Guantanamo Bay, the symbol for America's worst enemies, and to a mega-prison in El Salvador.
The Everglades facility is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to enlist local authorities to boost detention capacity and expand the number of officers around the country who can arrest immigrants living in the country illegally.
The Trump administration has struggled to meet its mass deportation goals in part because of resource constraints, and it is looking for every way to help increase numbers.
The goal in Florida is to have 5000 additional beds, spread out at the new facility and potentially other, smaller facilities as well.
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