No major investments are needed. If people escape, they will encounter a little, in addition to alligators and pythons.
The state of Florida's highest legal chief, the Republican James Uthmeier, strikes a proud tone when he in a video in social media presents the new migrant detention center, accompanied by rock music and cartoon red-eyed alligators.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump is expected to visit "Alligator Alcatraz", a name with a reference to the notorious prison in San Francisco.
Several detention centers?
The facility is located on the largely abandoned Dade-Collier airport in the middle of the Everglades swamp area, seven miles west of Miami. It has been built up in a short time: In provisional buildings and tents, up to 5,000 migrants are expected to be held already in July, according to information from Uthmeier.
The decision to convert the training airport into a migrant detention center was made in 2023 by Florida's governor Ron DeSantis. This with reference to what he and President Donald Trump claim is an emergency situation when it comes to the number of undocumented migrants in the USA.
Carrying out mass deportations of migrants who are in the country illegally was one of Trump's most prominent election promises. The President has repeatedly accused undocumented migrants of violent crimes and drug smuggling and promised to deport them.
Several protests
Hundreds of demonstrators – human rights activists, environmental activists, and representatives of the indigenous people – have in recent weeks protested against "Alligator Alcatraz" mainly in Miami, according to the media. They claim, among other things, that it is inhumane to force undocumented migrants to a tent in a swamp in the middle of the hot summer.
DeSantis has hinted that the detention center at the airport is just the beginning, that several similar facilities can be built in Florida.
Everglades is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and is known, in addition to alligators and snakes, for its rich bird life.
