By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press
OCHOPEE, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured a new immigration detention center surrounded by alligator-filled swamps in the Florida Everglades, suggesting it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration races to expand the infrastructure necessary for increasing deportations.
Trump said he’d like to see similar centers in “really, many states” and raised the prospect of also deporting U.S. citizens. He endorsed having Florida National Guard forces serve as immigration judges to ensure migrants are ejected from the country even faster, despite the dubious constitutional implications of doing so.
“Pretty soon, this facility will handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet,” Trump said of the Florida site known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
He added: “The only way out, really, is deportation.”
Hundreds of protesters converged outside the site — a remote airstrip with tents and trailers. They waved signs calling for the humane treatment of migrants as well as the protection of the expansive preserve that is home to a few Native American tribes and many endangered animal species.
The administration sees the location as a plus
The White House has delighted in the area’s remoteness — about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Miami — and the fact that it is teeming with pythons and alligators. It hopes to convey a message to detainees and the rest of the world that repercussions will be severe if the immigration laws of the United States are not followed.
Before arriving, Trump even joked of migrants being held there, “We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison.”
“Don’t run in a straight line. Run like this,” Trump said, as he moved his hand in a zigzag motion. “And you know what? Your chances go up about 1%.” Alligator experts suggest it is better to dash in one direction in the rare situation when the reptile gives chase, according to a website run by the University of Florida.
Trump on his tour walked through medical facilities and other parts of the detention center, then held a lengthy roundtable where Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and assorted state and federal officials, heaped him with praise.
Authorities originally suggested it could house up to 5,000 detainees upon completion, but DeSantis said it would actually hold around 3,000, with some starting to arrive Wednesday.
The center was built in eight days over 10 miles (16 kilometers) of Everglades. It features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire and 400 security personnel.
Trump dismissed concerns from critics, particularly the argument of the potential impact on a delicate ecosystem. He said there was already an airstrip in the area, which meant authorities won’t be “dropping dirt.”
“Frankly, it’s, like, perfect,” Trump said. “I don’t think you’re doing anything to the Everglades. You’re just enhancing it.”
Other, though, are appalled, including Phyllis Andrews, a retired teacher who drove from Naples, Florida, to protest Trump’s visit and called migrants “fine people.”
“They do not deserve to be incarcerated here,” Andrews said. ”It’s terrible that there’s a bounty on their head.”
Some Trump supporters showed up near the detention center as well, including Enrique Tarrio, a former leader of the Proud Boys whom Trump pardoned for his conviction related to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. He suggested Trump won last year’s election because voters wanted “mass deportation” and “retribution.”
Part of a larger Trump immigration push
Crackdowns on the U.S.-Mexico border and harsh immigration policies have long been a centerpiece of Trump’s political brand for years. During his first term in 2019, Trump denied reports that he floated the idea of building a moat filled with alligators at the southern border.
Trump has more recently suggested that his administration could reopen Alcatraz, the notorious island prison off San Francisco. The White House similarly promoted the political shock value of sending some immigrants awaiting deportation from the U.S. to a detention lockup in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and others to a megaprison in El Salvador.
His administration has vowed that mass deportations are coming, even if some of those notions are impractical. Transforming Alcatraz from a tourist attraction into a prison would be very costly, and Guantánamo Bay is being used less often than administration officials originally envisioned.
Trump also mused Tuesday about deporting dangerous people born in the United States, like ones who “knife you when you’re walking down the street” or who kill people from behind with a baseball bat.
“They’re not new to our country. They’re old to our country. Many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too,” Trump said. “So maybe that’ll be the next job that we’ll work on together.”
Alluding to his criminal indictments during President Joe Biden’s administration, Trump said of the detention facility, “Biden wanted me here,” using an expletive to describe his predecessor.
Construction of the Everglades site came together fast
Florida plans to offer members of the National Guard to be “deputized” and assist immigration judges, as a way to loosen another chokepoint in the country’s long-overburdened immigration court system. Guard personnel could provide site security along perimeter and entry control points, but also serve as staff augmentation while being ready to provide other support, officials say.
The detention center has an estimated annual cost of $450 million, but state officials say at least some of that will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency — which is best known for responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters.
During his tour, Trump greeted around 20 FEMA employees and construction workers and bonded with DeSantis, who once bitterly challenged him for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“We have blood that seems to match pretty well,” Trump said of Florida’s governor. When DeSantis suggested that members of the Guard could ease immigration judges’ workloads, Trump offered, “He didn’t even have to ask me. He has my approval.”
Encouraging self-deportation?
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was also on the tour, said immigrants arriving to the site could still opt to “self-deport” and board flights to their home countries rather than being held in it. She said she hoped “my phone rings off the hook” with other states looking to follow Florida’s lead and open similar sites.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees are generally held for reasons like entering the country illegally or overstaying a visa. They are either waiting for ICE to put them on the next flight or bus ride home, or they’re fighting their removal in immigration court.
As of mid-June, ICE detention facilities held more than 56,000 immigrants, the most since 2019.
During his visit, Trump was informed that the sweeping tax cut and spending bill the White House has championed had cleared the Senate, drawing applause. The president said his being in Florida, rather than helping promote bill in Washington, underscored the importance of the immigration issue.
“I’m here, and I probably should be there,” he said, shortly before flying back to the White House.
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Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.