Florida plans 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant detention centre
Florida on Tuesday started construction of a temporary migrant detention facility dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' due to its remote location in the Everglades, a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons.
Footage aired by a local NBC affiliate showed the start of construction on the site, which will feature large tents to house migrants and trailers for staff. The facility will have minimal security due to the natural barriers provided by the surrounding inhospitable marshy grasslands, a Florida official said last week.
US President Donald Trump, a Republican, has sought to ramp up the detention and deportation of migrants, saying it was needed after millions crossed the border illegally under Democrat Joe Biden.
The number of people in federal immigration detention has risen sharply from 39,000 when Trump took office to 56,000 by June 15, according to US government data, and the Trump administration has pushed to find more space.
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