President Donald Trump personally attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a newly established immigration detention center in southern Florida on May 1st, promoting his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
The prison, under construction, is located at the Deerfield-Collier Training and Transfer Airport in the state of Florida, surrounded by a subtropical wilderness landscape, known for its reptiles like crocodiles and pythons.
The government has given this prison an informal name, which was inspired by the “devil island” in San Francisco, California, famous for its harsh conditions and difficulty in escapes during the 1930s to the 1960s. The island later became a tourist attraction. In May of this year, Trump stated that he had instructed relevant departments to repurpose the island as a prison to house the “most brutal” criminals.
Before his trip, Trump gave media interviews in Washington and was asked about whether the prison’s location might lead potential escapees to be eaten by crocodiles or pythons. He admitted, “I guess it was something like that. It’s not a nice job.”
In front of the cameras, Trump also joked about the topic of escapes, saying any escapee should know “how to get away from crocodiles.” “Don’t run straight; run like this,” he gestured with a “Z” shape, “And guess what? That increases your chances of success by about 1%.”
After visiting the “Crocodile Devil Island” facilities with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kris Kobach and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump told the media that he believes the prison’s location is “very suitable,” “because when I look out, I don’t think I would want to walk there.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Levytsky introduced the prison structure the day before, emphasizing its location in a wilderness marsh surrounded by dangerous wildlife and only accessible to outsiders through one road, intended to deter escape attempts.
The facility, with 5,000 beds, is designed to house “illegal immigrants,” capable of implementing President Trump’s policy for mass deportation of illegal immigrants efficiently and at low cost.
For U.S. officials, the “Crocodile” seems to be the “selling point” of this prison. Some U.S. officials have posted images of crocodiles wearing the uniform of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement on social media, while Florida Republicans sell clothing and beer bottle covers themed around crocodiles.
U.S. media footage inside the prison shows densely packed “beds” enclosed in iron cages. Local indigenous tribes are dissatisfied with the prison’s location near their homes, fearing that the operation will disrupt local ecosystems and pose safety concerns due to the frequent passage of airplanes and other vehicles.
Micho Sugi and Seminole tribes live in the Big Cypress Swamp area of Florida.
Talveter Sepulis, chairman of the local Micho Sugi Chamber of Commerce, told ABC News,
Some villages are less than 300 meters away from the prison entrance. The entire prison complex is enclosed within the Talveter National Preserve, which his tribe has been living in for centuries.
Two environmental organizations, “Big Cypress Friends” and “Biodiversity Center,” filed a lawsuit last week in federal district court, hoping to stop the government from building the prison, arguing it violates federal, state, and local environmental regulations.
According to U.S. officials, the prison’s annual operational expenses amount to $450 million. Florida Governor DeSantis said he would send 100 National Guard soldiers to guard the facility, which will start accepting detainees starting February 2.
From January 20th, when Trump took office, to June 15th, the number of individuals detained in federal immigration detention facilities increased from 39,000 to 56,000.
Media outlets such as Reuters believe that the Trump administration emphasized that many detainees had criminal records, but records from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement show that a large number of people were detained solely for violating immigration laws without any criminal record.
The United States also forcibly detained immigrants from Latin American countries at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and in prisons in El Salvador, Central America, claiming they were members of organized crime groups, yet without providing sufficient and reliable evidence.