Latest news with #detentioncamp
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida's disaster pipeline funnels millions to politically connected contractors
ORLANDO, Fla. — In a matter of days, a detention camp for undocumented migrants state officials have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' rose out of the mosquito-infested Florida Everglades in time for a visit from President Donald Trump on July 1. The rapid mobilization of workers and materials was made possible by Florida emergency rules that allow Gov. Ron DeSantis to suspend state laws, building codes and the public, competitive bidding process to award millions of dollars from an account he alone controls. The governor has used this same disaster pipeline for years to funnel billions of dollars to contractors with political ties to himself and the GOP. Some of those contractors won jobs again when his administration moved quickly this summer to build a detention center in the Everglades. 'It's not Alligator Alcatraz. It's Gator Grift,' said state Rep. Fentrice Driskell of Tampa, leader of the Democrat minority in the House. The state's emergency rules gave DeSantis the power to commandeer an airport owned by Miami-Dade County and deploy more than a dozen contractors to erect a tent city that has so far cost taxpayers about $240 million, according to available public records. State officials said it will cost $450 million a year to operate what is supposed to be a temporary detention facility. Florida law allows the governor to declare a 60-day emergency, and he has done that after hurricanes, tornadoes and floods and then awarded contracts to companies on a preapproved vendor list — to repair roads and bridges, clean up debris, and provide food, medical care and temporary shelter to victims. DeSantis also has the power to renew those orders every 60 days as long as he deems an emergency exists. And since 2023 he has stretched the meaning of an emergency to include rounding up immigrants and sending them to Martha's Vineyard and California, deploying Florida National Guard troops and state law enforcement officers to the Texas-Mexico border, intercepting people trying to get into Florida by boat, and evacuating Florida residents from Haiti and Israel. 'If you ask the every-day Floridian what is an emergency, they would say a hurricane or flooding, not immigration,' Driskell said. The authority to build the new detention center comes from an executive order DeSantis signed in January 2023 declaring an immigration emergency and renewed 15 times since. Under state law, the auditor general is supposed to review all expenditures issued under an emergency order that is more than a year old, but to date no such audit has been conducted. CDR Health, a longtime state contractor, won a $17.5 million contract to provide medical facilities at the camp. It has contributed nearly $4 million to Republican candidates over the years, and gave $500,000 to a political committee associated with DeSantis in March. IRG Global, a spinoff of ARS Global, which has provided millions in hurricane recovery services over the last four years, got three contracts totaling $6.6 million including for shuttle operations, airfield ground control transportation and a flight control manager. IRG donated $3,000 to Attorney General James Uthmeier's political campaign and $10,000 to the Republican Party of Florida around the same time it got its contracts. IRG, ARS Global and its officers have contributed nearly $400,000 to DeSantis and the GOP. The biggest contract for Alligator Alcatraz is $78.5 million to Critical Response Strategies for staffing, including $260,000 for a warden, $160,000 for a camp manager and $8.7 million for an unspecified number of corrections officers. Those positions were advertised on CRS has previously done around $70 million in business with the state. Will Adkins, a manager of CRS, donated $240 to DeSantis in 2021 and 2022. DeSantis and his administration have touted the quickly built detention center as a model for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to use in other states as it works to fulfill the president's orders to deport thousands of undocumented immigrations. 'Within a week we had this facility set up,' DeSantis said. 'Florida set the standard for doing this swiftly, defying expectations of what the government can do.' It's hard to understand the full scope of the work on the 39-acre site that was a former airport strip because of inaccuracies on a public contract database. One contract in the database, for example, said $36.8 million was awarded to Loving Touch Services — a defunct hair salon in Boynton Beach. It was actually a contract for Longview International Technological Solutions, which was awarded it to build roads and fences, among other things. The state fixed the error after an Orlando Sentinel reporter pointed it out. The reporter also pointed out other irregularities. For instance, the Longview contract includes a line item of $5.95 million for Lemoine CDR, an affiliate of CDR Health. One of two contracts originally listed for CDR Health also included a $21.1 million line item for Gothams, a technology company that gave $50,000 to a political action committee associated with DeSantis. The Division of Emergency Management did not answer questions about those inaccuracies but removed more than a dozen contracts from the public site. The lack of transparency and the bypass of competitive bidding makes it difficult to know if citizens are getting the most bang for their buck, said Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg-area Republican and former state senator who started his own think tank after leaving the senate in 2022. 'I have no doubt that we are not getting the best price,' said Brandes, who has made a reputation for himself as an expert on prison reform. 'This facility will cost eight to 10 times what it costs to have a typical inmate in a Florida prison.' DeSantis and his allies have defended the project, saying the federal government did not have the manpower and facilities to process so many undocumented immigrants. 'They asked us for help on that,' DeSantis said at a news conference earlier this week. The most recent accounts said there were about 750 detainees at the Everglades camp, which will eventually be able to house up to 4,000 people. DHS has started moving in 'a significant number of people, and starting to deport people too,' DeSantis said Thursday in Jacksonville. The Everglades camp is designed to be a way station for detainees, a 'quick processing center, with a runway right there to send people back to their home country.' DeSantis said his goal is to fill the Everglades facility before starting work on a second detention center at Camp Blanding, a military base southwest of Jacksonville that's used as a training camp for the Florida National Guard and once housed 4,000 German POWs after World War II. In contrast to the no-bid contracts issued for the Everglades camp, DeSantis said the state requested proposals for the Camp Blanding one. 'I believe there are a number of bids from people.' He did not explain why the Camp Blanding project would be done differently. Most of the money for Alligator Alcatraz comes from a $500 million emergency fund first approved by the Legislature in 2022. The money was agreed to despite misgivings from several Democrats and some Republicans about the lack of specificity about its purpose and a lack of fiscal oversight. And when Sen. Jason Pizzo, a former Democrat, asked if immigration initiatives would fall under that fund, bill sponsor Sen. Danny Burgess, a Republican from Tampa Bay, gave a noncommittal response. 'I am not going to speculate about the myriad of disasters that are out there,' Burgess said. The Legislature has continued to give DeSantis his $500 million a year emergency fund, in addition to hundreds of millions more when he's run through that allotment. He also has a $14.6 billion rainy day fund to tap into for emergencies. In the past, contractors with political ties also got state work, with ARS Global, for example, signing a contract in 2023 to provide migrant relocation services, six months after donating nearly $100,000 to DeSantis' reelection campaign. 'We watched as Republicans gave DeSantis whatever he wanted … as he built a national profile as he prepared to run for president,' Driskell said. 'Now we see the governor use this slush fund with no oversight to pay for these political stunts.' With the money spent to build the Everglades detention center, the state could end its teacher shortage, pay for storm-water improvements, fix the property insurance crisis or solve housing affordability, she added.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘It's a concentration camp': Everything we know about Trump's new ‘Alligator Alcatraz' in the Florida Everglades
The name given by Donald Trump and his allies to Florida's new barebones immigrant detention camp is ghoulish enough: 'Alligator Alcatraz'. Critics, however, argue that it is nothing less than a concentration camp on American soil, designed to round up disfavored minorities even if they have committed no crimes. Rapidly built and opened in the space of just two weeks on a remote and rarely used airstrip in Florida's reptile-rich Everglades, the camp is intended to hold up to 5,000 people arrested by U.S. immigration authorities while they await deportation. Numerous detainees, their families, and their lawyers have already alleged inhumane and unsafe conditions, including maggoty food and overflowing toilets. Polling suggests that almost half of all Americans disapprove of the facility, with only 26 per cent of independent voters being in favor. So what exactly is Alligator Alcatraz, and what will happen to the so far 700-odd people detained there? Surrounded by alligators and pythons Long before his 2024 election victory, Donald Trump and his team were drawing up plans to deport millions of people every year — and hold them in vast new detention camps while their cases were processed. Alligator Alcatraz is a preview of that potential future. Rather than being the federal government, it's actually a project of Florida's Republican governor — and former Trump election rival — Ron DeSantis, who invoked emergency powers to seize the land last month. Who funded this remains unclear. DeSantis has said he will be reimbursed by the federal government, and Trump's homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, has said it will be "largely funded" by FEMA. Work progresses on a new migrant detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP) Yet in court filings, the U.S. Justice Department has claimed that "not implemented, authorized, directed, or funded Florida's temporary detention center" — despite the fact that immigration enforcement is handled by the federal government. Regardless, Republicans have made no secret of their rationale. "You don't need to invest that much in the perimeter," claimed Florida's attorney general James Uthmeier. "If people get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons." And yes, 'Alligator Alcatraz' is now its official name. It's even emblazoned on road signs that lead to the facility. 'Packed into cages' The facility's construction is extremely basic — and its conditions are allegedly brutal. Detainees are kept in metal cages, with dozens of people packed into each one, housed inside gigantic heavy-duty tents in the sweltering heat. Even the staff appear to be based in temporary prefab huts and mobile trailers parked nearby. Detainees and their families have reported worm-infested food, routine medical neglect, unreliable air conditioning, and inadequate toilets that overflow and cover the floor with feces. Government officials have adamantly disputed these accusations, but have provided few details and have denied access to the media. In total, there are currently around 3,000 beds. 'They have no way to bathe, no way to wash their mouths, the toilet overflows and the floor is flooded with pee and poop,' said the wife of one 35-year-old Cuban detainee. "They eat once a day and have two minutes to eat. The meals have worms." At one point, detainees "all went on a hunger strike" in protest against the conditions, she said, adding that her calls with him were interrupted every three minutes by an automated voice saying the conversation was recorded. Lawyers have also reported being refused access and prevented from speaking to their clients. Leamsy 'La Figura' Izquierdo, a Cuban reggaeton artist arrested last week in Miami-Dade County for assault with a deadly weapon and transferred to Alligator Alcatraz, likewise told CBS News: 'There's no water to take a bath, it's been four days since I've taken a bath. "They only brought a meal once a day and it has maggots. They never take off the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants." Another detainee said guards had taken away his Bible and told him that "here there is no right to religion". Democratic legislators who visited the camp say they're deeply concerned. While a bipartisan group was allowed to visit on July 12 — as required by state law — they were given a "sanitized" tour of still-empty areas with no detainees. Even then, their review was harsh. 'They are essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans," said Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. 'This place needs to be shut the hell down. They're abusing human beings." A spokesperson for the Florida state government said, "The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order." Who is detained there? In early July, Donald Trump claimed that the Florida facility would "handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet" — and said he wants to see similar facilities built in "many states". But what we know of Alligator Alcatraz's inmates conflicts with his description. According to The Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times, only one-third of the 700 people currently being held there have any criminal conviction whatsoever. Workers install a sign reading "Alligator Alcatraz" at the entrance to a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, as large fencing panels are unloaded from a nearby flatbed, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP) 250 detainees have been judged to have broken immigration law, which is a civil offence and not a criminal one. One detainee, who described the conditions as potentially "a form of torture", told CBS: "A lot of us have our residency documents and we don't understand why we're here." That fits the general pattern of Trump's detentions so far. Despite promising to prioritize "the worst of the worst", data suggests that only 8 percent of the estimated 185,000 people detained by ICE between October 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025 had been convicted of a serious crime. One-third of detainees had some kind of criminal conviction, but among that group, 75 percent had only committed low-level crimes such as traffic offenses. How long detainees will stay at Alligator Alcatraz is unclear, but immigration court proceedings can take months or years, and the Trump administration has said it will deny bail en masse. Hence, it could be a long time for some. Is it a concentration camp? Some critics believe so. Among them is the journalist Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, who made her case in a recent op-ed for MSNBC. "This facility's purpose fits the classic model: mass civilian detention without real trials targeting vulnerable groups for political gain based on ethnicity, race, religion or political affiliation rather than for crimes committed," Pitzer wrote. "We're still in the early stages of this arc, but... the history of this kind of detention underlines that it would be a mistake to think the current cruelties are the endpoint. America is likely just getting started." While the term 'concentration camp' is most associated with the Nazis, such camps have been widely used by numerous nations, including the U.K., the U.S., Spain, and the Soviet Union. Immigration lawyer Raul A. Reyes likewise argued in The Los Angeles Times that Alligator Alcatraz is a "national disgrace" that "will place detainees in life-threatening conditions". He further claimed the facility "appears intentionally designed to inflict suffering on detainees", citing supporters' "gleeful" attitude to the idea of federal detainees being eaten by alligators. The Department of Homeland Security has promoted the project with AI-generated images of alligators wearing ICE hats, while the President himself has joked that detainees would need to learn how to escape the beasts — prompting laughter from Fox News hosts. The Florida Republican Party, and Uthmeier himself, are even selling Alligator Alcatraz merchandise, including baseball caps, water bottles, and beer koozies. Solve the daily Crossword
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Former Colchester mayor made 'Auschwitz' post about migrants
A former mayor of Colchester has admitted posting on social media that "we need to create an Auschwitz camp minus the ovens to house illegals".Gerard Oxford, who said he deleted the post about 20 minutes later, told the BBC: "I am sorry that I made the post now."I regret using the word 'Auschwitz'. I should have just said 'detention camp'."Former MP for Colchester Sir Bob Russell said: "I'm flabbergasted. I know Gerard well. This is completely out of character. That is not the comment of the Gerard Oxford I know." Oxford said: "I've been suggesting for some time we should create detention camps in this country."Sir Bob, a Liberal Democrat who has known Oxford for years, added: "That's not the language we should expect in a democratic society under any circumstances. We all know what Auschwitz was, and to use that word is just not acceptable."Oxford was mayor of Colchester in 2017. Originally a Lib Dem, he left the party two decades ago and was an independent quit Colchester City Council in 2022 after a dispute over disability access at the town insisted he was not antisemitic and added: "I find it more offensive when I [see] Palestine Action marching every week. I call that antisemitic." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Independent
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
‘It's a concentration camp': Everything we know about Trump's new ‘Alligator Alcatraz' in the Florida Everglades
The name given by Donald Trump and his allies to Florida 's new barebones immigrant detention camp is ghoulish enough: 'Alligator Alcatraz'. Critics, however, argue that it is nothing less than a concentration camp on American soil, designed to round up disfavored minorities even if they have committed no crimes. Rapidly built and opened in the space of just two weeks on a remote and rarely used airstrip in Florida's reptile-rich Everglades, the camp is intended to hold up to 5,000 people arrested by U.S. immigration authorities while they await deportation. Numerous detainees, their families, and their lawyers have already alleged inhumane and unsafe conditions, including maggoty food and overflowing toilets. Polling suggests that almost half of all Americans disapprove of the facility, with only 26 per cent of independent voters being in favor. So what exactly is Alligator Alcatraz, and what will happen to the so far 700-odd people detained there? Surrounded by alligators and pythons Long before his 2024 election victory, Donald Trump and his team were drawing up plans to deport millions of people every year — and hold them in vast new detention camps while their cases were processed. Alligator Alcatraz is a preview of that potential future. Rather than being the federal government, it's actually a project of Florida's Republican governor — and former Trump election rival — Ron DeSantis, who invoked emergency powers to seize the land last month. Who funded this remains unclear. DeSantis has said he will be reimbursed by the federal government, and Trump's homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, has said it will be "largely funded" by FEMA. Yet in court filings, the U.S. Justice Department has claimed that "not implemented, authorized, directed, or funded Florida's temporary detention center" — despite the fact that immigration enforcement is handled by the federal government. Regardless, Republicans have made no secret of their rationale. "You don't need to invest that much in the perimeter," claimed Florida's attorney general James Uthmeier. "If people get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons." And yes, 'Alligator Alcatraz' is now its official name. It's even emblazoned on road signs that lead to the facility. 'Packed into cages' The facility's construction is extremely basic — and its conditions are allegedly brutal. Detainees are kept in metal cages, with dozens of people packed into each one, housed inside gigantic heavy-duty tents in the sweltering heat. Even the staff appear to be based in temporary prefab huts and mobile trailers parked nearby. Detainees and their families have reported worm-infested food, routine medical neglect, unreliable air conditioning, and inadequate toilets that overflow and cover the floor with feces. Government officials have adamantly disputed these accusations, but have provided few details and have denied access to the media. In total, there are currently around 3,000 beds. 'They have no way to bathe, no way to wash their mouths, the toilet overflows and the floor is flooded with pee and poop,' said the wife of one 35-year-old Cuban detainee. "They eat once a day and have two minutes to eat. The meals have worms." At one point, detainees "all went on a hunger strike" in protest against the conditions, she said, adding that her calls with him were interrupted every three minutes by an automated voice saying the conversation was recorded. Lawyers have also reported being refused access and prevented from speaking to their clients. Leamsy 'La Figura' Izquierdo, a Cuban reggaeton artist arrested last week in Miami-Dade County for assault with a deadly weapon and transferred to Alligator Alcatraz, likewise told CBS News: 'There's no water to take a bath, it's been four days since I've taken a bath. "They only brought a meal once a day and it has maggots. They never take off the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants." Another detainee said guards had taken away his Bible and told him that "here there is no right to religion". Democratic legislators who visited the camp say they're deeply concerned. While a bipartisan group was allowed to visit on July 12 — as required by state law — they were given a "sanitized" tour of still-empty areas with no detainees. Even then, their review was harsh. 'They are essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans," said Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. 'This place needs to be shut the hell down. They're abusing human beings." A spokesperson for the Florida state government said, "The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order." Who is detained there? In early July, Donald Trump claimed that the Florida facility would "handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet" — and said he wants to see similar facilities built in "many states". But what we know of Alligator Alcatraz's inmates conflicts with his description. According to The Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times, only one-third of the 700 people currently being held there have any criminal conviction whatsoever. 250 detainees have been judged to have broken immigration law, which is a civil offence and not a criminal one. One detainee, who described the conditions as potentially "a form of torture", told CBS: "A lot of us have our residency documents and we don't understand why we're here." That fits the general pattern of Trump's detentions so far. Despite promising to prioritize "the worst of the worst", data suggests that only 8 percent of the estimated 185,000 people detained by ICE between October 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025 had been convicted of a serious crime. One-third of detainees had some kind of criminal conviction, but among that group, 75 percent had only committed low-level crimes such as traffic offenses. How long detainees will stay at Alligator Alcatraz is unclear, but immigration court proceedings can take months or years, and the Trump administration has said it will deny bail en masse. Hence, it could be a long time for some. Is it a concentration camp? Some critics believe so. Among them is the journalist Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, who made her case in a recent op-ed for MSNBC. "This facility's purpose fits the classic model: mass civilian detention without real trials targeting vulnerable groups for political gain based on ethnicity, race, religion or political affiliation rather than for crimes committed," Pitzer wrote. "We're still in the early stages of this arc, but... the history of this kind of detention underlines that it would be a mistake to think the current cruelties are the endpoint. America is likely just getting started." While the term 'concentration camp' is most associated with the Nazis, such camps have been widely used by numerous nations, including the U.K., the U.S., Spain, and the Soviet Union. Immigration lawyer Raul A. Reyes likewise argued in The Los Angeles Times that Alligator Alcatraz is a "national disgrace" that "will place detainees in life-threatening conditions". He further claimed the facility "appears intentionally designed to inflict suffering on detainees", citing supporters' "gleeful" attitude to the idea of federal detainees being eaten by alligators. The Florida Republican Party, and Uthmeier himself, are even selling Alligator Alcatraz merchandise, including baseball caps, water bottles, and beer koozies.
Washington Post
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Heat, storms, mosquitos the big threats at Alligator Alcatraz, experts say
The hastily constructed detention camp in the Everglades that began processing immigrant detainees late this week has already flooded once, may not meet hurricane codes and is not officially approved or funded by the federal government. Experts say detainees and staff will face far more common hazards than the swampland terrors gleefully envisioned by state and national Republicans to discourage escapes. Mosquitoes and hurricanes are more likely to harm the expected 3,000-plus detainees and 100-member staff than are alligators and Burmese pythons.
