Latest news with #BrettBruen
Daily Mail
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump admin threatens to unleash alligators on immigrants in preview of new ICE facility
The Trump administration is barreling ahead with plans to build a colossal immigration detention camp in the depths of the Florida Everglades - a compound dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz.' The Department of Homeland Security brazenly stoked fear with an AI-generated meme showing snarling alligators in ICE baseball caps patrolling the swampy grounds of the future facility. The meme, posted on Saturday to X with the tagline 'Coming soon!', sent shockwaves through immigrant advocacy groups who denounced it as state-sponsored psychological warfare. Former US diplomat Brett Bruen slammed the stunt as a 'horrendous lack of humanity,' while national security expert Christopher Burgess called the post 'disgusting.' The plan for the $450 million-a-year complex envisions housing up to 1,000 migrants on a remote, 39-square-mile plot of marshland surrounding a defunct pilot airstrip in the Everglades, a habitat crawling with thousands of hungry pythons and an estimated 200,000 alligators. Supporters of the project, including Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, insist the swamp's lethal wildlife will function as a budget-friendly security measure to deter escape attempts. Uthmeier, a 37-year-old hardliner dubbed 'Bulldog' by allies, made no apologies in a slick, rock-music-laced promotional video touting the terrifying natural 'moat.' 'No one's getting out,' he declared triumphantly, describing the snake- and gator-infested perimeter as a 'force multiplier' to keep detainees in line. The Department of Homeland Security brazenly stoked fear with an AI-generated meme showing snarling alligators in ICE baseball caps patrolling the swampy grounds of the future facility dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz.' 'Virtually escape-proof,' he boasted on X, claiming the plan would save taxpayer dollars on fencing and guards. 'If you get out, there's not much waiting for you except alligators and pythons.' The dystopian blueprint evokes President Trump's own suggestions during his first term of digging a medieval moat filled with deadly creatures along the southern border wall. Now, his administration appears to be giving that idea fresh legs (and scales) by threatening to move vulnerable migrants into a swampy no-man's-land patrolled by apex predators. Democrats and immigrant rights organizations erupted in outrage, accusing the administration of pushing a sadistic spectacle straight out of a horror film. 'This is not a joke - this is state-sponsored intimidation,' one activist fumed online. 'We are treating human beings like prey.' Meanwhile, environmental defenders have raced to file lawsuits against what they see as an ecological nightmare. The Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity argue the project could devastate a fragile wetland ecosystem that taxpayers have spent billions to protect, including habitat critical to the endangered Florida panther. 'The site is over 96 percent wetlands, surrounded by a national preserve, with incredible biodiversity,' warned Eve Samples, head of Friends of the Everglades to CBS News. 'This plan is not only cruel, it's an environmental disaster waiting to happen.' Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava also fired off a letter warning that construction would proceed without adequate study of environmental impacts, financial risks, or public safety. Yet the Trump-aligned forces behind the proposal appear determined to push forward, brushing off criticism as left-wing hysteria. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's office insisted the swamp-based facility would be a 'force multiplier' for mass deportations, while hawking 'Alligator Alcatraz' T-shirts, baseball caps, and beverage coolers online for between $15 and $30. State and federal officials have pointed to the abandoned airstrip as a key logistical benefit, making it easier to fly detainees straight into the swamp instead of busing them from facility to facility. 'This is the best one,' Uthmeier boasted. 'It's the one-stop shop for President Trump's mass deportation mission.' The idea has sparked fierce backlash, with critics condemning it over environmental risks and calling out the inhumane conditions of detaining people in such camps, not to mention being surrounded by dangerous wildllfe Civil rights groups say the plan amounts to turning the Everglades into a weapon of fear. 'They are literally weaponizing nature against migrants,' a former immigration official said in disbelief. 'This is not a security measure. This is a grotesque form of punishment.' For now, court challenges have slowed the project, but Uthmeier and DeSantis remain defiant, promising they will bulldoze ahead in the name of 'warrior culture' and border security.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump administration taunts detained migrants with ICE alligators at proposed Florida prison
The Department of Homeland Security taunted detained migrants with an AI-generated meme depicting alligators guarding a proposed Florida prison, what critics called a 'horrendous lack of humanity.' Work has begun on the so-called 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center that's expected to cost $450 million a year in the heart of Florida's Everglades. 'Coming soon!' DHS said in a post on X Saturday, with the meme of the alligators donning Immigration and Customs Enforcement baseball caps. The department was called out on social media for the post. 'A horrendous lack of humanity,' wrote former U.S. diplomat and Georgetown lecturer Brett Bruen. Coming soon! — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 28, 2025 Christopher Burgess, a global security expert and former CIA officer, simply said: 'Disgusting.' 'This is not a joke, it's psychological warfare dressed as meme culture,' another person said. 'This isn't a warning. It's a threat and DHS just made it official propaganda.' Some Trump administration supporters were also not impressed. 'This administration is doing good things, but the utter lack of seriousness of your comms team really sucks,' one person said. 'No one takes you seriously with posts like this.' Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, an ally of President Donald Trump, boasted this week in a social media video that the center will require minimal additional security due to its remote, swampland location, which is home to dangerous wildlife, including alligators and pythons. 'Alligator Alcatraz' would detain roughly 1,000 people in a facility on an abandoned airfield in the heart of the sprawling conservation area made up of mangrove forests and 'rivers of grass.' The idea recalls Trump's own suggestion during his first term that a medieval moat be built alongside his still-unfinished southern border wall, inhabited by deadly creatures. Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the move to open the facility. The government's plan has not been through an environmental review as required under federal law, and the public has had no opportunity to comment, the groups claim in the suit, which named the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the Florida Division of Emergency Management as the defendants. 'The site is more than 96 percent wetlands, surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species,' Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said. 'This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect,' she added. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the state would oppose the lawsuit. 'Governor Ron DeSantis has insisted that Florida will be a force multiplier for federal immigration enforcement, and this facility is a necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a pre-existing airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment,' Bryan Griffin, the governor's spokesman, said. 'We look forward to litigating this case.' State Republicans have also been flogging 'Alligator Alcatraz' T-shirts, baseball caps, and beverage coolers from $15 to $30 on their website. More than 56,000 people are being held in immigration detention, the highest level in years and what may be an all-time record. There were 56,397 people are currently jailed in immigrant detention, according to Syracuse University's TRAC database. Internal government data obtained by CBS News suggests an even higher figure, with roughly 59,000 immigrants behind bars — or 140 percent of the agency's ostensible capacity to hold them. The figures top both the 39,000 people held in the final days of Joe Biden's administration, and the previous recent record of 55,654 in August 2019, set during the first Trump administration, which is pushing an aggressive anti-immigration agenda to revoke legal status for tens of thousands of people with a goal of arresting thousands of immigrants a day.
The Independent
28-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump administration taunts detained migrants with ICE alligators at proposed Florida prison
The Department of Homeland Security taunted detained migrants with an AI-generated meme depicting alligators guarding a proposed Florida prison, what critics called a 'horrendous lack of humanity.' Work has begun on the so-called 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center that's expected to cost $450 million a year in the heart of Florida's Everglades. 'Coming soon!' DHS said in a post on X Saturday, with the meme of the alligators donning Immigration and Customs Enforcement baseball caps. The department was called out on social media for the post. 'A horrendous lack of humanity,' wrote former U.S. diplomat and Georgetown lecturer Brett Bruen. Christopher Burgess, a global security expert and former CIA officer, simply said: 'Disgusting.' 'This is not a joke, it's psychological warfare dressed as meme culture,' another person said. 'This isn't a warning. It's a threat and DHS just made it official propaganda.' Some Trump administration supporters were also not impressed. 'This administration is doing good things, but the utter lack of seriousness of your comms team really sucks,' one person said. 'No one takes you seriously with posts like this.' Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, an ally of President Donald Trump, boasted this week in a social media video that the center will require minimal additional security due to its remote, swampland location, which is home to dangerous wildlife, including alligators and pythons. 'Alligator Alcatraz' would detain roughly 1,000 people in a facility on an abandoned airfield in the heart of the sprawling conservation area made up of mangrove forests and 'rivers of grass.' The idea recalls Trump's own suggestion during his first term that a medieval moat be built alongside his still-unfinished southern border wall, inhabited by deadly creatures. Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the move to open the facility. The government's plan has not been through an environmental review as required under federal law, and the public has had no opportunity to comment, the groups claim in the suit, which named the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the Florida Division of Emergency Management as the defendants. 'The site is more than 96 percent wetlands, surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species,' Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said. 'This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect,' she added. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the state would oppose the lawsuit. 'Governor Ron DeSantis has insisted that Florida will be a force multiplier for federal immigration enforcement, and this facility is a necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a pre-existing airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment,' Bryan Griffin, the governor's spokesman, said. 'We look forward to litigating this case.' State Republicans have also been flogging 'Alligator Alcatraz' T-shirts, baseball caps, and beverage coolers from $15 to $30 on their website. More than 56,000 people are being held in immigration detention, the highest level in years and what may be an all-time record. There were 56,397 people are currently jailed in immigrant detention, according to Syracuse University's TRAC database. Internal government data obtained by CBS News suggests an even higher figure, with roughly 59,000 immigrants behind bars — or 140 percent of the agency's ostensible capacity to hold them. The figures top both the 39,000 people held in the final days of Joe Biden's administration, and the previous recent record of 55,654 in August 2019, set during the first Trump administration, which is pushing an aggressive anti-immigration agenda to revoke legal status for tens of thousands of people with a goal of arresting thousands of immigrants a day.
RTÉ News
25-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Pressure on EU countries over NATO spending
Brett Bruen, President of the Global Situation Room and a former U.S. diplomat with the Obama administration, analyses the significance of today's NATO Summit in The Hague.
Daily Mail
16-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
G7 leaders ready for Trump in bear-proofed Canada
The last time world leaders gathered in Kananaskis, a bear tried to make its way into the 2002 meeting of the world's top eight economies and met an untimely end. This time, members of the G7 are developing strategies to handle a different formidable figure: President Donald Trump. It will be Trump's first time setting foot on Canadian soil since saying Canada was 'meant to be' the 51st U.S. state and slapping 25 percent tariffs on Canada's steel. U.S. statehood polls abysmally here, and the issue sets up a gathering that is anything but typical. 'He's not acting like an ally right now when he's trying to disrupt our economy and threatening to take us over. Even if he says it's a joke, it's not a joke. You don't treat another sovereign country like that,' Robert Mallach, a law professor at the University of Calgary told the Daily Mail. Mallach said other leaders should 'ignore' Trump at the summit, and said Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney took the best posture: 'Let's start protecting Canada by spending some money on defense. And let's realize we need allies other than America to do that.' Trump 'comes to the G7 running into allies who are quite frankly tired of the kind of threats and the kind of taunts that Trump has been engaged in,' said Brett Bruen, a former White House National Security Council official during the Obama administration. 'I think he's going to get a firsthand dose and dousing of reality, which is that these comments have consequences,' he said. 'I think this is one of those situations where Trump's bluster and bulldozing is going to run into some pretty hard, harsh realities on the international scene.' Still to be determined is whether Trump arrives ready for compromise, or feeling emboldened after watching a parade of MI Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles during the Army 250th military parade on his birthday in D.C. 'It certainly is going to put him in jingoistic mindset where he will feel, if not regal, at least replenished in his splendor, and that, as we've seen in the past, can lead to some really strange outbursts and sense of self-importance,' Bruen added. It is also unclear how much pre-planning fellow leaders have done. They could try to seek an 'intervention' on trade, although that could backfire. Canadian PM Mark Carney appears to have managed the situation deftly when he met with Trump in the Oval Office and declared his country not for sale while also pushing cooperation with Canada's more powerful neighbor. Now, he is holding out hope of a deal with the U.S. on trade and security. 'We're having intensive discussions in real time,' he said this week. Any agreement would progress compared to Trump's 2018 meeting with then-PM Justin Trudeau. That meeting ended in angry outbursts from Air Force One, with Trump calling Trudeau 'very dishonest and weak' and threatening to impose new auto tariffs. Russia's President Vladimir Putin attended the 2002 meeting, also in Kananaskis, during George W. Bush's presidency but got kicked out of the group after his 2014 annexation of Ukraine. This time, Putin's militarism will be a topic for other leaders to analyze, a day after Trump touted a forthcoming talk with him after Putin called with birthday greetings and the two talked about the war between Israel and Iran. A senior administration official previewing the summit sketched out the topics of discussion: 'trade in the global economy, critical minerals, migrant and drug smuggling, wildfires, international security, artificial intelligence and energy security.' The topic the official didn't mention are the deep tensions set off by Trump's repeated call to absorb the host country. The official did say that 'we appreciate Canada's cooperation in the planning of the summit and their choice of a great location in Canada for these important conversations.' Middle East security, with Israel's attack on Iran's nuclear program and military leadership and Iran firing missiles at Israel, is certain to soak up attention. French President Emmanuel Macron set the tone Sunday with a pointed visit to Greenland – a sprawling Arctic territory that Trump said the U.S. needed to obtain. 'I don´t think that´s something to be done between allies,' Macron said as he met with Danish PM Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen. 'It´s important to show that Denmark and Europe are committed to this territory, which has very high strategic stakes and whose territorial integrity must be respected,' said Macron. As far as the actual bears roaming the G7 meeting spot in Kananaskis next to the Canadian Rockies, local officials have taken steps to avoid further mishaps. Among the security gear they trotted out early this month in advance of the event was a large bear trap. Local students were enlisted to pluck thousands of berries from area bushes so as to lower the temptations that might lure bears to try to crash the confab. That's what happened at the 2002 summit, when security officials used a bear-banger device to try to scare away a bear who got near delegates. It ended up falling out of a tree and dying.
