Alligator Alcatraz: Cruelty as Policy in a New American Dystopia

The new American dystopia is a cruel and surreal place in which the lives and dignity of undocumented migrants have been put second by a Trump administration and American right indulging in its own obscenities. As part of the President’s latest push on illegal immigration, the Department of Homeland Security and the Florida State government announced a new detainment facility deep in the marshy Everglades. The facility, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”, is a blatantly cruel stunt as opposed to a serious, well-thought-out way of housing those detained by ICE.

Development of the site was only announced on the 19^th of June, with construction of the primary facilities only taking 8 days. According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the compound will have a capacity of 3000 detainees once fully operational, with the first group of detained migrants arriving on the 2^nd of July.

Advocates of “Alligator Alcatraz” were drawn to the remote location of the area and its geography to boost security – which is where the alligator police come in. Trump bragged that the site had “a lot of cops that are in the forms of alligators […] you don’t have to pay them so much”. He also added that migrants would need to learn to zigzag instead of running in a straight line to escape any alligators.

The Everglades jail represents a humanitarian tragedy waiting to happen. In the short-to medium-term, “Alligator Alcatraz” risks the wellbeing and dignity of detainees being housed in atrocious conditions.

Already, some of the first of those who were transferred to the detention centre are alleging inhuman conditions, including lack of access to water, inadequate food and denial of religious rights, according to CBS News. Inmates are alleging that food at the site is scarce and unsanitary. One inmate told reporters, “They only brought a meal once a day and it had maggots. They never take off the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants.”

There are also serious concerns that the detention centre is vulnerable to Florida’s hurricane season. While Floridian officials have claimed that the structures and tents can withstand category two hurricanes, videos emerged of flooding in the centre on the day of Trump’s visit as a small storm hit the area.

A facility consisting of mostly tents and trailers is wildly negligent when facing a hurricane season that is predicted to be even worse than in recent years. The perfect storm of gruelling conditions, poor infrastructure and an administration that does not care is bound to precipitate crimes against humanity.

Subject to the sweltering heat and humidity of the swamp, people will suffer at this facility from the first detainees. Thoughtless planning makes real the distressing possibility that detainees’ lives are at serious risk.

As the first group of migrants were brought into the jail, the American right was delighted with the obscenity. After MAGA influencers revelled in the optics of “Alligator Alcatraz”, the White House shared an AI-generated image of the President accompanied by alligators sporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement apparel. The Republican Party of Florida has been making merchandise for the facility, including “Alligator Alcatraz” t-shirts, mugs and even beer koozies.

The fact that potentially torturous conditions for detainees are being mocked and even monetised is a disgrace. It amounts to a sadistic glorification of the suffering that will be inflicted upon human beings who came to the United States for a better life. 

It is abundantly clear that cruelty is the point of Alligator Alcatraz. Trump and his allies will argue that America needs strong deterrents like the facility to both prevent people from coming to the country and persuade current undocumented migrants to “self-deport”. But the whole politics and optics of this facility goes above and beyond that. It is an exceptionally demeaning marker of anti-immigration sentiment; the derision of human beings who happen to have been born elsewhere sets the stage for more widespread rejection of migrant communities.

This, as many will note, is just the latest episode in the full-on assault on migrants and immigration rights from the American right over the last few years. All this stirs division and tension in an America that is more fraught than ever. Late last month, Laura Loomer, a far-right zealot and Trump ally, made a post on X saying, “Alligator lives matter. The good news is, alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now.” An interesting number, given estimates of the number of undocumented migrants are not even a fraction of that number. 65 million is, however, the total population of Hispanic people living in the United States – though Loomer now claims that she was not referring to them. 

You may agree that the United States immigration system needs to be reformed and improved – it does – but the way in which this reform is being pursued is depraved. While Trump has claimed that his immigration policies target the most dangerous criminals, the fraction of undocumented migrants detained since January who have criminal convictions has been steadily falling. Criminal or not, these are human beings – and this is not how civilised societies are supposed to treat human beings.

Illustration by Will Allen/Europinion