Alligator Alcatraz, a place which Republicans try to glaze over it with terms like "detention center" or "internment camp", is located on an isolated airfield in the Florida Everglades. It is in essence a concentration camp. The construction of the facility was quite swift. One of the earliest to conceptualize is development was non other than white supremacist Governor Ron DeSantis, who used emergency powers during President Joe Biden's administration to issue an executive order to obtain the property. So even before 2024, plans were in the making for a detention center for illegal immigrants, and DeSantis would eventually hook up with Donald Trump to concoct the abominable place known as Alligator Alcatraz.
There are more problems regarding this concentration camp, other than blatant mistreatment of detainees and confining people of legal citizenship status. Alligator Alcatraz also jeopardizes the Florida Everglade's ecosystem, and just as importantly, the way of life concerning a native people known as the Miccosukee Tribe. DeSantis, appearing on Fox News, claimed the project would have "zero impact" on the Everglades. What a pathetic and habitual liar! According to a recent article, "A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to stop sending detainees to the facility and begin dismantling it within 60 days. In making her ruling, Judge Kathleen Williams sided with the tribe and environmentalists who argued that state and federal officials violated a federal law that requires an environmental review before proceeding with any federal construction project. The judge’s order also prohibits further construction at the site." DeSantis is appealing the ruling, of course. The whole hideous structure needs to come down.
Detention centers in the United States are making far more money under the Trump administration. Companies such as CoreCivic and the Geo Group contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE. It is becoming a lucrative money making opportunity as the federal government focuses on "ridding" people of color and disrupting their families. However, Alligator Alcatraz is a Florida state operation. Florida's governor, Republican Ron DeSantis has been utilizing tax payer money and FEMA dollars to fund the concentration camp.
The disgusting facility was erected very quickly, and functions like a large sprawling area of animal kennels--to house living human beings. The "detention" center purports to have a capacity to hold over three thousand people. Additionally, the property is maintained with a very large staff.
Shortly after Alligator Alcatraz opened July 1, 2025; horror stories began to erupt. On July 10, a group of Democratic lawmakers were denied entry to examine the camp. This has been a reoccurring theme as lawmakers have repeatedly been denied access to visit the facility. Maxwell Frost, a Democratic lawmaker, was one of the first denied access and then later, was given a guided tour" of the facility after providing advance notice to officials. The reason for these guided tours by appointment is because detainees are being mistreated badly, and basically tortured by brutal living conditions designed to inflict physical and mental cruelty.
Last I am aware of, the operators of Alligator Alcatraz require a seven day notice before lawmakers can tour. Yes, from the terrible stories I am hearing, it would take at least seven days to tidy up the filth conditions and other nefarious activities. We are seeing an abuse of people akin to the horrors of Nazi Germany within the United States.
Inside this inhumane place, there is no sunlight and no way to tell the time. Alligator Alcatraz has a number of tents, and within each tent, there are eight large cages which hold up to about 32 people--all cramped together. The tents frequently experience flooding from the Florida rains, and this exacerbates the number of mosquitoes and insects in the facility and surrounding areas. Frequent flooding along with poor maintenance and shoddy construction has led to sewage backups; which could only be characterized as a health hazard. Detainees have infrequent showers, and some have reported worms in their food, maggots--another health hazard. Often, the detainees get only one meal a day and with worms in the food, many cannot eat. Inadequate small toilets often do not flush, contributing to the sewage overflow. People are forced to drink water from spigots attached to these toilets. Everyone in the cages gets to see you pee and crap. No solitary moments to reflect, no peace, and very inhumane treatment. This is unconscionable!
Besides rabid hate by the new white supremacist administration and its Republican constituents, another objective of Alligator Alcatraz is to utilize fear as a method of control. Trump, Steve Miller, and other wanna be Nazis want to invoke terror into certain groups of people; whether through using masked ICE agents, or military deployed illegally to cities with black mayors, and creating horrible living conditions for people in concentration camps.
It is going to take numbers to break this authoritarian wave. We must not only vote out the politicians propping up this regime in the mid-term elections, we must unite for a common cause--to defend our democracy. We need to put aside differences between various groups seeing the danger of authoritarianism--even if for just a period of time, and focus on the important goal of removing Trump and the white supremacists from power. I also like the idea of a "general strike", something I intend to post about in the future. Meanwhile, specific groups should also continue with their efforts to address their own unique causes.
In our former democratic state, various organizations had options to address issues afflicting specific marginalized groups, however, options are suppressed in authoritarian governments when such groups become targets. The DOJ is now grossly corrupt and has been rendered useless, as it became a tool for misuse by white nationalists. The white supremacist tide is now largely fueled by white fear surrounding the idea of being out numbered (replaced) by people of color, which they believe will hinder white political and financial control. We have to come to terms that the fight to get back our democracy is going to be a long fight and a long process. But if enough people rise up, we will prevail.
