President
People protest as Trump tours Florida immigration detention center nicknamed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
OCHOPEE, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump toured a newly built immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades surrounded by alligator-filled swamps and nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.” He praised it as a model for future nationwide facilities aimed at accelerating deportations, including possibly deporting U.S. citizens.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accompanied Trump on the tour. Originally expected to hold 5,000 people, the center will house around 3,000.
It was rapidly constructed by the DeSantis administration in eight days over 10 miles of swampland and is equipped with extensive security, including barbed wire, cameras and 400 personnel.
Immigrant advocates, environmental activists and Native Americans defending their ancestral homelands have thronged to the airstrip to protest.
Protesters march outside the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where President Donald Trump appeared, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
President Donald Trump tours “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Protesters march outside the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where President Donald Trump appeared, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
President Donald Trump listens to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as they and others tour “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Protesters march outside the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where President Donald Trump appeared, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A truck drives past the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where President Donald Trump appeared, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, speaks during a roundtable at “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump talks with Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., during a roundtable at “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Amy Clay, from left, Kevin Davila and Will Mach protest against the immigration detention site dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”, while standing in the rain outside the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where President Donald Trump visited, in Ochopee, Fla, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
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