People are boycotting Etsy over ‘Alligator Alcatraz' merch
The detention facility, built from Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers and temporary shelters at the site of a training airport in Miami-Dade County, is in the middle of a natural alligator habitat. It has drawn condemnation from tribal, environmental, and civil rights groups. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida called the facility 'part of a broader strategy to expand the abusive mass detention machine, and in turn, criminalize and disappear members of our communities.'
It has not drawn condemnation, though, from Etsy, which claims to prohibit 'content which directly or indirectly contains violent or degrading commentary' against people over traits like their race, religion, gender, or immigration status. The availability of 'Alligator Alcatraz' merchandise on the site has inspired calls for boycotts on social media that have received thousands of reactions. Etsy did not respond to a request for comment.
Etsy's terms of service around discrimination and hateful content are broad, with the term indirectly allowing for enforcement against veiled, coded, and subtle violations. Considering the derisive and violent nature of how President Trump and his supporters have spoken about the facility, 'Alligator Alcatraz' seems to fall under the policy's generous umbrella. When Trump toured the detention facility last week, he joked that detainees would learn 'how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison.'
Much of Etsy's 'Alligator Alcatraz' merch has the look of AI -generated slop, which is at odds with the company's recent push to highlight human-made products. And it's not clear how much of an audience there is for this stuff. A 53% majority of U.S. adults disapprove of Trump's handling of immigration, according to a Yahoo/YouGov poll, and Etsy pages for 'Alligator Alcatraz' products don't suggest robust sales, with low views and few notes indicating products had been purchased or put into carts. There's also competition, with official Florida Republican Party 'Alligator Alcatraz' merch and more options on Amazon.
It's clear Etsy understands the art of political subtly when it comes to the left- and right-leaning political categories it organizes for T-shirts with quiet, hidden political messages. For merch celebrating Trump's new detention facility, though, that understanding suddenly seems lost.
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