Photo courtesy of DHS
It’s been called everything from a gulag to a concentration camp, but the new detention center nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” is an efficient plan to house illegal aliens slotted for deportation.
Despite the inflammatory rhetoric, a closer examination of the facts reveals that Florida’s immigration detention facility in the Everglades operates within established legal frameworks and includes proper humanitarian provisions.
Comparing “Alligator Alcatraz” to gulags and concentration camps is both historically ignorant and deeply offensive. A gulag is a prison where political opponents are banished for punishment.
The people being sent to Alligator Alcatraz are not political opponents but rather illegal aliens without legal residency permits. They are not being sent there as punishment but rather as a temporary stop on their way to being deported to their home countries.
During World War II, Hitler sent Jews and other minorities to concentration camps strictly based on race. The camps were generally work camps or death camps designed to torture, starve, and kill people, which Hitler did in vast numbers.
Alligator Alcatraz, by contrast, houses illegal immigrants temporarily before deportation. They will not be tortured, starved, or killed. They will simply be processed and deported to their home countries with proper legal proceedings.
The truth is, Florida is constructing a temporary immigration detention facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a little-used airfield in the Everglades about 45 miles west of Miami.
Attorney General James Uthmeier proposed the site after Governor Ron DeSantis directed state leaders to find locations for expanded immigration enforcement.
The federally funded center, expected to hold up to 5,000 detainees, is set to open by early July. It supports President Trump’s mass deportation agenda by expanding detention capacity nationwide.
The nickname “Alligator Alcatraz” references the famous offshore prison, secure and isolated, but nothing like a death camp.
Some critics argue that the facility represents “a new form of detention outside the scope of the federal government,” but federal-state cooperation in immigration enforcement is both legal and well-established. ICE routinely partners with state and local facilities under federal law, which authorizes ICE to “arrange for appropriate places of detention.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has confirmed that the federal government approved the plan, and the facility operates under 287(g) agreements, which explicitly permit this level of cooperation.
Opponents like Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition have labeled the site “cruel and inhumane,” citing concerns about holding detainees in tents under Everglades heat.
However, there is no indication he has toured the facility or assessed its living conditions firsthand.
The assumption that tents automatically imply abuse ignores the capabilities of modern temporary facilities. Military personnel routinely live in tents outfitted with air conditioning, electricity, running water, and medical services.
Governor DeSantis has stated that Alligator Alcatraz will include air-conditioned shelter, 24/7 medical care, and access to showers for both detainees and staff.
Claims that DeSantis and Uthmeier intend to expose detainees to alligators and pythons are a mischaracterization. Their comments, such as Uthmeier’s remark that “You don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. If people get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons,” and DeSantis stating, “Trudge through the swamp and dodge alligators on the way back…Not going to happen”, are references to the natural geography of the site.
Like the waters surrounding Alcatraz, the Everglades serve as a practical deterrent to escape, reducing the need for costly fencing or surveillance.
Some critics claim the facility is designed to fast-track deportations without proper due process, but immigration proceedings are civil, not criminal, and follow their own established legal standards.
Federal law permits the detention of non-citizens before and during removal proceedings, and the Supreme Court has affirmed that such detention is constitutional.
The legality and due process do not change based on whether the facility is located in a city or the Everglades. As Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier stated, “We’ll give them the due process that all these courts say they need.”
The backlash is politically motivated rather than grounded in law. Rep. Maxwell Frost accused the Trump administration of planning to “kidnap, brutalize, starve, and harm every single immigrant,” while State Rep. Dan Daley called supporters of the facility “a disgusting excuse for a human being.”
Liberals hate ICE and use inflammatory language to vilify lawful immigration enforcement, calling illegals “immigrants,” lawful arrests “kidnapping,” and any detention “brutalization.”
The claim of starvation is pure fabrication. ICE detention centers, including Alligator Alcatraz, are required to meet strict federal standards ensuring access to medical care, legal rights, and humane treatment.
Far from the “gulag” critics describe, Alligator Alcatraz is a lawful, cost-effective facility built to support immigration enforcement.
It operates under federal authorization, targets individuals with criminal records, and includes humanitarian provisions such as medical care and due process.
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