Florida is building a detention facility for migrants nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” turning an airfield in the Everglades into the newest — and scariest-sounding — holding center designed to help the Trump administration carry out its immigration crackdown.
The remote facility, composed of large tents, and other planned facilities will cost the state around $450 million a year to run, but Florida can request some reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security.
Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, a Trump ally who has pushed to build the detention center in the Everglades, has said the state will not need to invest much in security because the area is surrounded by dangerous wildlife, including alligators and pythons. A spokesperson for the attorney general said work on the new facility started on Monday morning.
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The Everglades facility is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to enlist local authorities to boost detention capacity and expand the number of officers around the country who can arrest undocumented immigrants. The Trump administration has struggled to meet its mass deportations goals in part because of resource constraints, and it is looking for every way possible to help increase numbers.
The goal in Florida is to have 5,000 additional beds, spread out at the new facility and potentially other, smaller facilities as well.
It’s not clear how quickly the new detention center can be built.
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But Ms. McLaughlin, the D.H.S. spokeswoman, said the goal is to have at least some of the tents up and running by July.
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