Alligator Alcatraz: ICE to detain migrants in middle of remote Florida swamp

Yahoo8 hours ago

In the fight to secure the US border, immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) has deployed an unexpected new line of defence.
Construction has begun on an 1,000-bed detention centre for undocumented migrants in the middle of the Florida everglades national park that state officials have nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz'.
The facility, built on the site of an abandoned runway, is designed to temporarily house migrants and has drawn comparisons to the infamous island prison because of the thousands of alligators and pythons living in the flooded grasslands that surround it.
The detention centre is the brainchild of James Uthmeier, the state attorney general and Trump ally who last week shared a video suggesting the area's dangerous wildlife will function as natural security.
'Alligator Alcatraz: the one-stop shop to carry out president Trump's mass deportation agenda,' Mr Uthmeier said.
'People get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.'
Located at Dade-Collier training and transition airport, a former landing strip west of Miami, the 39-square-mile-square Everglades detention centre is one of several major new sites in Florida designed to house upwards of 5,000 detainees, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Touted as a 'cost-effective' way to support mass deportations, the new site follows proposals by the Trump administration to reopen the original Alcatraz prison in San Francisco and efforts to send illegal migrants to Guantanamo Bay.
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said the facility will be funded in large part by the federal emergency management agency's shelter and services programme, which is designed to provide emergency housing for undocumented migrants.
According to The Hill, a temporary site could open within days, while the facility is projected to cost around $450m a year once it is fully operational.
Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, has backed the project, with his office releasing a statement saying he 'will facilitate the federal government in enforcing immigration law'.
'Florida will continue to lead on immigration enforcement,' a spokesman for Mr DeSantis said.
The new facility has drawn the ire of immigrant rights groups and environmentalists, who reacted furiously to the prospect of large tents being pitched in one of the country's most prized areas of natural beauty.
The national park is home to dozens of threatened species including manatees, American crocodiles, American flamingo and wood storks.
On Sunday, more than 300 protesters flocked to the Everglades to demonstrate against the new centre.
The decision to build the site comes after the Trump administration's efforts to send migrants to Guantanamo Bay and to a migrant detention centre in Texas were thwarted.
A contract for a vast tent city at the Fort Bliss military base in Texas was terminated in April, while courts have blocked attempts to send undocumented migrants to the Guantanamo military base in Cuba.
In March, Mr Trump proposed reopening the original Alcatraz prison located in San Francisco bay in order to deter 'vicious' criminals.
Addressing plans to build a detention centre in Florida, Ms Noem said: 'Under president Trump's leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people's mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens.
'We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.'
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Wisconsin Supreme Court sides with Republican Legislature in fight with governor

Associated Press

16 minutes ago

Associated Press

Wisconsin Supreme Court sides with Republican Legislature in fight with governor

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court handed a victory to the Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday in a power struggle with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. The court, in a unanimous ruling where the four liberal justices joined with three conservatives, struck down Evers' partial veto of a Republican bill in a case that tested both the limits of his broad veto powers and the Legislature's ability to exert influence by controlling funding. The court also ruled that the Legislature can put money for certain state programs into an emergency fund under the control of its budget committee. Evers had argued such a move was unconstitutional. The ruling against Evers comes after the court earlier this year upheld Evers' partial veto that locked in a school funding increase for 400 years. The court last year issued a ruling that reined in some powers of the Legislature's budget committee, while this ruling went the other way. Evers clashes with Legislature Evers, in his seventh year as governor, has frequently clashed with the Legislature and often used his broad veto powers to kill their proposals. Republican lawmakers have tried to take control away from the governor's office by placing money to fund certain programs and state agencies in an emergency fund controlled by the Legislature's budget committee. That gives the Legislature significant influence over that funding and the implementation of certain programs within the executive branch. Evers argued that the Legislature is trying to limit his partial veto power and illegally control how the executive branch spends money. The state Supreme Court on Wednesday disagreed. It ruled that Evers improperly used his partial veto on a bill that detailed the plan for spending on new literacy programs designed to improve K-12 students' reading performance. The court also sided with the Legislature and said the budget committee can legally put money into an emergency fund to be distributed later. That is what it has done with the $50 million for the literacy program. Evers and Republican lawmakers did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Fight over literacy funding In 2023, Evers signed into law a bill that created an early literacy coaching program within the state Department of Public Instruction. The bill also created grants for schools that adopt approved reading curricula to pay for changing their programs and to train teachers on the new practices. However, Republicans put the $50 million to pay for the new initiative in a separate emergency fund controlled by the Legislature's budget committee. That money remains in limbo amid disagreements about how the money would be used and who would decide how to spend it. Evers argued that the Legislature didn't have the power to withhold the money and the court should order it to be released to the education department. The Legislature has been increasing the amount of money it puts in the emergency fund that it can release at its discretion, but it remains a small percentage of the total state budget. In the last budget, about $230 million was in the fund, or about half of a percentage point of the entire budget. Republicans sue to stop veto Evers used his partial veto power on another bill that created the mechanism for spending the $50 million for the new program. He argued that his changes would simplify the process and give DPI more flexibility. Evers also eliminated grants for private voucher and charter schools. Republican legislators sued, contending that the governor illegally used his partial veto power. State law allows only for a partial veto of bills that spend money. For all other bills, the governor must either sign or veto them in their entirety. Because the bill Evers partially vetoed was a framework for spending, but didn't actually allocate any money, his partial vetoes were unconstitutional, lawmakers argued. Evers argued for a liberal interpretation of his veto powers. He said that by challenging it, the Legislature was trying to weaken his powers. A Dane County judge sided with Evers, determining that the bill in question qualified as an appropriations bill subject to partial vetoes. But in a win for the Legislature, he did not find fault with the Legislature's budget committee putting funding for the program under its control. The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed with the lower court that putting the money into the emergency fund was legal. But the court also said Evers' veto was illegal.