Welcome to Alligator Alcatraz: Immigrants to be locked up surrounded by 200,000 gators

Florida is considering a bold move to detain undocumented immigrants at a site being dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz', located perilously close to the treacherous Everglades.

The crackdown on illegal immigration, championed by former President Donald Trump, has seen a surge in detainees at ICE facilities, leading to overcrowding and dire conditions that one charity has labelled "hellish".

In a recent social media post, Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier floated the idea of establishing the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" within the Everglades National Park, an area teeming with some 200,000 alligators and crocodiles.

Uthmeier pinpointed the largely abandoned Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, nestled in the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area, as the perfect spot for this unconventional detention centre. The proposal comes after Governor Ron DeSantis directed state lawmakers to scout for suitable locations for temporary immigration holding facilities.

"I think this is the best one," Uthmeier declared in his announcement, reports the Mirror US.

The state's chief legal officer touted the potential "Alligator Alcatraz" as a cost-effective and efficient option, with the surrounding Everglades acting as a natural barrier, thus reducing the need for extensive security measures.

"If people get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons," Uthmeier warned. "Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide."

Uthmeier proclaimed that the establishment could be up and running between 30 to 60 days after construction is finished, with plans to house up to 1,000 individuals.

"This presents a great opportunity for the state of Florida to work with Miami-Dade and Collier counties," he exclaimed in his address.

Yet, Uthmeier did not venture to provide a cost estimate for transforming the ageing structure into an immigration detention centre. Originally constructed in 1968 as Everglades JetPort, its progress was curtailed due to environmental concerns.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, an environmentalist icon, founded Friends of the Everglades in 1969, which played a crucial role in preventing the JetPort's completion.

Currently, the site listed on its website as falling under Miami-Dade County's remit, boasts just one runway that is mainly utilised for training pilots. Friends of the Everglades' executive director Eve Samples voiced her strong opposition to WPTV regarding the place chosen for this project.

Samples slammed the proposal as hastily conceived and ill-advised during a press briefing. "This site is really important to Friends of the Everglades. It's actually the reason Friends of the Everglades was founded by Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 1969, to stop what would have been the world's largest airport from being built right there. It's really ironic that the state attorney general is characterizing this as a largely abandoned site. It was abandoned because the people of Florida, including Friends of the Everglades, rose up to stop it back in 1969, 1970."

She then elaborated on the potential repercussions if development proceeded.

"Think about what could happen if we bring in a 1,000-bed prison, all the ancillary development you would need," Samples cautioned. "We call on the governor to put a stop to this proposal right now. It's a terribly bad idea, and it could totally undermine any Everglades credibility he has remaining."