By CHRIS MEGERIAN and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will visit a new migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades on Tuesday, showcasing his border crackdown in the face of humanitarian and environmental concerns.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it will be “informally known as Alligator Alcatraz,” a moniker that has alarmed immigrant activists but appeals to the president’s aggressive approach to deportations.
“There’s only one road leading in, and the only way out is a one way flight,” she said. “It is isolated and it is surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain.”
The detention facility is being built on an isolated airstrip about 50 miles west of Miami, and it could house 5,000 detainees. The surrounding swampland is filled with mosquitos, pythons and alligators.
Trump will be joined by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor.
DeSantis confirmed Trump’s trip earlier in the day, saying he thinks the facility will be “ready for business” by the time he visits.
The governor, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year, said he spoke with Trump over the weekend. He also said the site obtained approval from the Department of Homeland Security.
“What’ll happen is you bring bring people in there,” DeSantis said during an unrelated press conference in Wildwood. “They ain’t going anywhere once they’re there, unless you want them to go somewhere, because good luck getting to civilization. So the security is amazing.”
The facility has drawn protests over its potential impact on the delicate ecosystem and criticism that Trump is trying to send a cruel message to immigrants. Some Native American leaders have also opposed construction, saying the land is sacred.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who popularized the name “Alligator Alcatraz,” has described the facility as a “one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.”
“There’s really nowhere to go. If you’re housed there, if you’re detained there, there’s no way in, no way out,” he told conservative media commentator Benny Johnson.
He has described the facility as “Alligator Alcatraz.” DHS posted an image of alligators wearing hats with the acronym ICE, for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
State officials in Florida are spearheading construction but much of the cost is being covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which is best known for responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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