‘Hell on Earth’: Aerial photos expose Trump’s unthinkable plan
It’s been described as “hell on Earth” – now new aerial photos have revealed the reality of Donald Trump’s unthinkable latest plan.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Hurricanes. Floods. Mosquitos. Gung-ho prison guards. And that’s before the alligators awake. The inside story of Trump’s immigrant detention camp reveals the risks and conditions his ICE detainees face.
The first unwilling occupants of President Donald Trump’s newest detention centre are in shock: “We’re human beings; we’re not dogs.”
Last week, the 47th President of the United States joked, “Don’t run in a straight line” as he spruiked the virtues of his new Florida Everglades detention centre.
This week, the first detainees were forced to come to grips with the new reality of the US legal and criminal system: “They never take off the lights for 24 hours,” one detainee told US media. “The mosquitoes are as big as elephants.”
Alligator Alcatraz is open for business.
The cluster of former Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) disaster relief pavilions have been erected behind barbed wire fences on a disused Florida Everglades airfield. About 70 National Guard volunteer troops are playing the role of prison guards. And the President insists the local fauna provides additional unpaid security.
“They have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators; you don’t have to pay them so much,” Trump laughed during a tour.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is extremely conscious of cost. Her department is already $US1 billion over budget. So, she’s selling the diversion of FEMA funds and assets as a serious cost saving.
But maintaining and operating the fabric-covered facility will still set back the State of Florida some $US450 million annually. And Governor Ron DeSantis says he will forward that bill to the White House.
Meanwhile, Alligator Alcatraz is deepening the political divide tearing the US apart.
“They target migrants, rip families apart, and subject people to conditions that amount to physical and psychological torture in facilities that can only be described as hell on Earth,” Democrat Florida Representative Maxwell Frost states.
“They don’t care if people live or die; they only care about cruelty and spectacle.”
‘I couldn’t care less’
Cuban artist Leamsy Isquierdo was among the first group of detainees to arrive at Alligator Alcatraz at the weekend.
“They only brought a meal once a day, and it had maggots,” he told CBS News Tuesday. “There’s no water to take a bath, it’s been four days since I’ve taken a bath.”
It took just eight days to erect enough tents to house 5000 prisoners. A handful of portable airconditioning units are scattered among its chain-linked halls. And there’s no sign of another Florida staple – mosquito nets.
“I don’t know their motive for doing this if it’s a form of torture,” another detainee told US media. “A lot of us have our residency documents, and we don’t understand why we’re here.”
According to Florida Governor DeSantis, discomfort is all part of the plan.
“You’ll have a lot of people that will deport on their own because they don’t want to end up in an Alligator Alcatraz or some of these other places,” DeSantis insisted.
“This is a model, but we need other states to step up.”
President Trump agrees.
“It might be as good as the real Alcatraz,” he stated. “A little controversial, but I couldn’t care less.”
At this time of year, the Florida Everglades regularly tops 38C. Mosquitos swarm. Heavy rain and humidity are inevitable. As are devastating hurricanes.
That has raised questions about the suitability of using temporary emergency relief tents as a permanent camp. Especially after it rained during a media tour of the facility.
Video of a “garden-variety South Florida summer rainstorm” showed water spilling beneath the fabric walls and into the concrete-floored cages.
“The roof was shaking as the rain pounded down, drowning out Governor Ron DeSantis’ voice as he spoke,” the Miami Herald reporters wrote.
“The water seeped into the site — the one that earlier in the day the state’s top emergency chief had boasted was ready to withstand the winds of a ‘high-end’ Category Two hurricane — and streamed all over electrical cables on the floor.”
It was a practical demonstration that drew the ire of Florida commentator Christopher Webb: “It’s costing taxpayers $450 million annually, and Alligator Alcatraz concentration camp is already flooding,” he said.
“Imagine a hurricane. People are going to die. There’s always enough money to hurt folks, but when it comes to public transit, low-income housing, schools, or public healthcare, ‘Sorry, we’re broke.’”
‘Don’t run in a straight line’
“We’re surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only way out is, really, deportation,” Trump boasted during his tour.
US prisoners end up behind bars after a Constitutional legal process. They’ve been arrested, but only once “probable cause” has been demonstrated. They’ve faced formal trial before a judge or jury. Admissible evidence must be verified. And detention comes only after such due process is served.
Trump’s new immigration detainees don’t get these rights.
There is no judicial review. Evidence is not tested. There is no right of appeal.
It’s the same controversy experienced by Australia when it began detaining aspirant refugees and deporting them to detention facilities on hot, remote Pacific Islands.
The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments” for everyone within the jurisdiction of US law. Such a claim has yet to reach the US Supreme Court. But Trump is confident his judicial appointees will once again give him the green light.
“The snakes are fast, but alligators [are faster],” he laughed during his tour last week.
“We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator. Don’t run in a straight line, look like this, and you know what? Your chances go up about 1 per cent. Not a good thing …
Florida Immigrant Coalition director Renata Bozzetto told US media the camp’s location isn’t only about keeping people in. It’s also about keeping them out.
It’s a “facility that is very inaccessible to lawyers, to family members, to oversight,” she argues.
Politics of fear
Secretary Noem says diverting FEMA emergency response assets and funds prevented them from being “abused” by illegal immigrants.
“Before this program was used to house criminal illegal aliens. Now, it is being used to detain criminal illegal aliens while they await deportation,” Noem stated on social media.
“Alligator Alcatraz will be funded largely by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, which the Biden administration used as a piggy bank to spend hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars to house illegal aliens, including at the Roosevelt Hotel that served as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to shelter Laken Riley’s killer.”
She did not detail what support residents (including certified US citizens) in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina can expect for future disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Helene.
But the disaster relief funds may be needed for further Alligator Alcatraz-style camps.
The White House has set Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) police the target of 3000 immigrant arrests per day. As of last month, 11,700 had already been detained – many of whom say they have never been charged or convicted of a crime.
But Trump insists they all are.
And that’s his justification behind his heavy-handed arrest and detention tactics.
Florida’s elected Democrats, however, have been prevented from validating these claims.
Five of them were denied entry last Thursday.
“Florida law gives legislators the authority to make unannounced visits to state-run facilities — to inspect conditions and check on the wellbeing of the people inside,” Senator Shevrin Jones posted on social media. “I’ve served in the Legislature for 13 years, and this has never happened.”
Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @jamieseidel.bsky.social
Originally published as ‘Hell on Earth’: Aerial photos expose Trump’s unthinkable plan
Big call on US’ ‘unreasonable’ Taiwan order
A Liberal frontbencher says the United States “can’t expect” Australia to declare its military position on a hypothetical position on Taiwan.
Albo given the red carpet in Beijing
Anthony Albanese has been given a very warm welcome in Beijing ahead of his big meet with the world’s second-most powerful man.