Built in the middle of the swamp area, this detention center wanted by the Florida authorities, and supported by Donald Trump strengthens environmental and political criticism. But what does this controversial and worrying project hide?
The state of Florida has just launched a site as symbolic as it is polemical. A detention center for migrants, nicknamed ” Alcatraz of alligators“. Established in the middle of the famous swamps of the Everglades. Recognized ecosystem, it should welcome at least in the coming months 1,000 people in an irregular situation.
The chosen site is none other than an old aerodrome located in an area of 7,700 hectares, completely landlocked in the marshes. For James Uthmeier, prosecutor general of Florida, this choice is ” Efficient and inexpensive“. The land is already naturally isolated, which limits expenditure in security infrastructure. “” If people go out, there is not much who awaits them, apart from the alligators and the pythons “He said in a video posted on X.
Alligator Alcatraz: The One-Stop Shop To Carry Out President Trump’s Mass Deportation Agenda. pic.twitter.com/96um2ixix7u
– Attorney General James Uthmeier (@agjamesuthmeier) June 19, 2025
The detention center could start hosting its first prisoners Between 30 and 60 days after the start of work. The annual operating cost is estimated at $ 450 million. Florida hopes to obtain a share of this budget from the federal government.
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A migration policy at the Trump
This project is directly in Donald Trump’s ultra-repressive migration policycentral figure of the republican party. The president has made the massive expulsion of immigrants one of his main objectives, repeatedly qualifying immigration to »criminal invasion“.
Florida governor, Ron Desantis, Trump’s ally on this issue, fully supports this type of measure. He claims to work ” in close collaboration With the Trump administration on this detention and expulsion program. The symbolism of this camp in the heart of a hostile territory, almost inaccessible, strengthens a political posture of absolute firmness.
But this “aLCatraz of alligators »Already cringe teeth, far beyond progressive circles.
An ecological scandal?
It is not only on the moral level that this project is scandalous. The selected site is in the heart of the Everglades National Park. A unique nature reserve housing very developed fauna and flora. The association ” Friends of the Everglades “Denounced in an open letter addressed to the governor a” unacceptable and useless risk For this fragile ecosystem.
The installation of temporary structures, even removable, could permanently disturb the ecological balances of this area. Faced with criticism, Desantis tried to appease concerns by ensuring that ” Nothing will be permanent “And that” L‘environmental impact will be zero“. Words far from convincing environmental defenders. Especially since massive human activity, even temporary, In a protected area, always has a risk of pollution and destruction of habitat.
“” Political theater »Or background solution?
Indeed, for many observers, this project is more of a communication stroke than a pragmatic solution to the migratory question. “” Transforming the Everglades into a detention camp funded by taxpayers is a grotesque mixture of cruelty and political theater“, Expressed Alex Howard, former advisor in the Biden administration.
If the center eventually operates, it will become one of the great symbols of American migration policy. A prison surrounded by snakes and alligators, to dissuade those who are trying to escape.
