Donald Trump’s brand-new detention center, “Alligator Alcatraz,” is predicted to cost taxpayers an alarming $450 million. But, according to the president, the facility – that offers panoramic views of deadly pythons, killer reptiles and mosquito-infested swampland – is “cost effective” as it comes with “bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators.”
In a move that’s raising both eyebrows and blood pressure, Donald Trump’s latest immigration initiative has taken a dramatic turn deep in the Florida Everglades.
A new detention center that’s surrounded by deadly pythons, alligators and mosquito-infested swamplands – fittingly dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” – officially opened July 1 as a “cost-effective” way to support the president’s sweeping mass deportation strategy.
Cages for migrants
Built on an abandoned airstrip at the Dade-Collier Training and Transport Airport, the high-security facility – slammed by critics as an “inhumane” prison camp – can currently house up to 3,000 detainees, 5,000 in the near future.
Packed with rows of bunk beds enclosed by chain-link fences, the facility is designed to help the Trump administration more than double migrant detention capacity – from 41,000 to a staggering 100,000 beds.
And its isolated swamp location isn’t just strategic – it’s intended to deter illegal immigration and pressure detainees into self-deportation.
‘State of torture’
But, the “treacherous” environment is putting detainees in a “state of torture” – including filthy living quarters, a lack of food and basic medical care, raising serious human rights concerns at this controversial detention site.
“It’s like a dog cage,” said Rafel Collado, a Cuban detainee, describing the squalid conditions. He claims that a mix of storm floodwater, filthy surroundings, and limited access to showers led to a painful foot fungus infection.
Meanwhile, Juan Palma, who is also Cuban, told NBC from inside the facility: “I feel like my life is in danger.” He describes being “in a state of torture” as he’s relentlessly swarmed by mosquitoes in his sleep, with no sense of night or day as harsh fluorescent lights blaze overhead 24/7.
The wives of both men acknowledged their husbands have past criminal records – but emphasized that they’ve served their time and paid their dues, NBC reports.
As of June 20, over 56,000 people were being held in U.S. detention centers each night and nearly 72% of those detained have no criminal record.
‘Treacherous swampland’
The president, however, is quite pleased with his new creation.
According to AP, while visiting the facility in early July, Trump said: “We’re surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is, really, deportation. This is an amazing thing that they’ve done here.”
Trump added, “You don’t always have land so beautiful and so secure. You have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators. You don’t have pay them so much.”
Triple the cost to taxpayers
But, while the government might be saving money on guards, operating Alligator Alcatraz will cost taxpayers a jaw-dropping $450 million per year – triple what it would cost to house migrants in existing facilities, Florida State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith told ABC affiliate News Channel 9.
“There’s a huge financial cost to taxpayers to have a tent city on top of the Florida Everglades rather than utilizing existing detention centers,” said Guillermo-Smith. “The average cost to the State of Florida to incarcerate an individual into one of our state prisons or correctional facilities is approximately $27,000 per year, so if you just do the back of the napkin math on the cost of the Everglades camp…$450 million to taxpayers…with a maximum capacity of 5,000 individuals, you’re looking at over $90,000 a year per person.”
That’s about $63,000 more than the cost of keeping detainees at a regular facility.
Additional cost of hurricane evacuation
Also, with hurricane season expected to slam the state in August, experts warn the facility is dangerously unfit to withstand a Category 3 hurricane – and there’s no estimate for how much a large-scale evacuation of the camp would cost.
“Never mind moving them around in the event of an evacuation, can we talk about keeping them there? $450 million to Florida taxpayers,” Democrat Congresswoman Lois Frankel argued, per News Channel 9.
She added, “Let me ask you, do you think there are better places where that could be spent? I do. Alligator Alcatraz is a gimmick.”
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