Latest news with #BearAlcatraz
Metro
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Metro
First group of detainees arrive at Trump's brutal 'alligator Alcatraz'
Footage has shown what appears to be the first group of handcuffed detainees being led into Trump's 'alligator Alcatraz'. Days ago, Trump visited the makeshift facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, which received federal approval to house thousands of undocumented immigrants. The president said that 'some of the most vicious people on the planet' will be held at the detention centre. Today, the Florida Division of Emergency Management wrote: 'The first group has arrived at Alligator Alcatraz. Florida is proud to help facilitate Trump's mission to enforce immigration law.' It will cost an estimated £330,000,000 to operate each year when it's fully established. Deep in the Florida Everglades and surrounded by miles of swampland, the facility has been likened to early-stage concentration camps by some. 'Alligator Alcatraz' was coined by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who shared a video about it on X (formerly Twitter) a week-and-a-half ago and called it 'the one-stop shop to carry out President Trump's mass deportation agenda'. It has 3,000 beds and was built in eight days after DeSantis authorised its construction. The Trump administration said it will eventually hold up to 5,000 people. It is slated to become the biggest migrant detention facility in the country in the heart of the Everglades, which is home to alligators, pythons, mosquitoes and other dangerous wildlife. The 11,000-foot runway at the airport has recently been used for training, but officials indicated that it could soon be used for deportation flights. But the facility isn't without concerns. In an opinion article for MSNBC, author Andrea Pitzer, who researches concentration camps, wrote: 'When people think of concentration camps, they think of more than a million people murdered at Auschwitz. 'But extermination camps appeared only after nearly a decade of Nazi rule and several evolutions in wartime detention. We're still in the early stages of this arc, but Americans aren't helpless before the administration and its allies.' More Trending In addition to humanitarian concerns, historic worries and environmental issues have been brought up. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians has also gotten involved in the matter, slamming the use of its ancestral lands in the Big Cypress National Preserve for detention purposes. Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, pointed out that the site posed an 'existential threat' to the national park. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Elon Musk says he has set up a new political group – the 'America Party' MORE: At least 51 dead in Texas floods including girl, 8, 'forever living best life' MORE: 'Bear Alcatraz' floated as migrant detention center near alligators opens for Trump
Metro
a day ago
- Politics
- Metro
Elon Musk says he has set up a new political group - the 'America Party'
Elon Musk claims he has created a new political party after asking his followers on X about it. His announcement comes in the wake of his public falling out with Donald Trump. On Friday, he asked social media users whether a new political party should be formed. And on Saturday evening he wrote: 'By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.' Musk spent hundreds of millions supporting Trump in the 2024 presidential campaign and led his administration's department of government efficiency (DOGE). But the two have since clashed over Trump's tax-cut and spending bill, with Musk lashing out at Republicans for backing it. On Monday, he called the GOP 'the PORKY PIG PARTY!' for including a provision that would raise the nation's debt limit by $5 trillion and calling the bill 'political suicide' for Republicans. Since their political alliance spectacularly imploded, the two have traded blistering insults. Musk has called for Trump's impeachment, and only days ago, the president threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government. The tech billionaire is the chief executive of Tesla, the nation's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, and SpaceX, which has massive defence contracts. Last week, Trump posted on social media that Musk has long known of his opposition 'against the EV Mandate', which he called 'ridiculous'. He wrote that without subsidies, the Tesla CEO 'would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa'. Trump suggested that 'Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!' Later at the White House, he said: 'We might have to put DOGE on Elon. 'You know what DOGE is. DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.' More Trending Several times, Musk has suggested that a new political party is needed to encapsulate the viewpoints he argues aren't represented by the GOP. Starting a new national party — which would be set head-to-head with existing major parties — has been done before, but recent efforts in that vein have struggled to catch on. Even without such an official effort, Musk's financial backing could be a factor in upcoming races, should he choose to contribute to candidates, either directly or through his PAC. Republicans have expressed concern that Musk's on-again, off-again feud with Trump could hurt their chances to protect their majority in the 2026 midterm congressional elections. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Desperate search for missing children after Texas floods leave at least 27 dead MORE: 'Mum stabs her three children killing one and sets home on fire' MORE: 'Bear Alcatraz' floated as migrant detention center near alligators opens for Trump
Metro
2 days ago
- Metro
‘Mum stabs her three children killing one and sets home on fire'
A mother allegedly stabbed three of her children, killing one of them, and then set their home on fire on the morning of the Fourth of July. The 45-year-old woman is accused of using a knife to stab her kids inside the Northwest Side of Chicago on Friday morning, according to police. Police responded to a call of a person with a knife in the Logan Square neighborhood shortly before 9.15am on Friday. 'I got this child yelling for help out the basement window,' said a 911 caller, according to WLS. More Trending 'We're trying to get her out of the window. I do see blood. 'She's covered in blood, got the knife away from her.' A four-year old boy was found dead, and seven others including two children were hospitalized, police said. A source told CBS Chicago that the woman was the mother of the children. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: 'Bear Alcatraz' floated as migrant detention center near alligators opens for Trump MORE: At least 13 dead and 23 children missing as 'catastrophic' river floods sweep Texas MORE: Frightening text message that caused plane to divert mid-flight
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Alaska quips about opening ‘Bear Alcatraz' as WH chief of staff urges Republican states to work with DHS to build more detention facilities
Alaska has joked about setting up a 'Bear Alcatraz' to help the Trump administration detain more illegal migrants — as the White House urged Republican states to work with the feds to build similar detention facilities across the country. The state quipped about the plan just days after Florida offered to build a massive new immigration detention center — dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' — to help house hundreds of illegal migrants. 3 White House chief of staff Stephen Miller on Fox News talking about Alaska opening a similar facility to alligator Alcatraz. Fox News Advertisement 'We don't have alligators, but we have lots of bears,' the state of Alaska said in a statement to Fox News' 'The Ingraham Angle.' However, the Last Frontier — which President Trump won in the 2024 election with 55% of the votes — said there were no earnest plans currently in place for 'an Alaska version of Alligator Alcatraz.' It came as White House chief of staff Stephen Miller called on the governors of GOP states to offer up similar spaces to help the Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigration. Advertisement 'Every governor of a red state, if you are watching tonight: Pick up the phone, call DHS, work with us to build facilities in your state so we can get the illegals and criminals out,' he told the network. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier kickstarted the push last month when he proposed building a new detention center — surrounded by alligators and pythons — on a 39-square-mile plot of land. 3 Workers install a sign reading 'Alligator Alcatraz' at the entrance to a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, as large fencing panels are unloaded from a nearby flatbed, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. AP 3 President Trump (2L), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (L), and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem (R) tour a migrant detention center, dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida on July 1, 2025. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement 'The government tasked state leaders to identify places for new temporary detention facilities,' the attorney general said at the time. 'I think this is the best one. As I call it, alligator Alcatraz.' 'Alligator Alcatraz, we're ready to go,' he added.
Economic Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Economic Times
Alligator Alcatraz opens in Florida: First migrants moved to remote Everglades facility
A newly constructed detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," has opened in the Florida Everglades amid political backlash and human rights concerns. The facility, built to house thousands, has already received its first batch of immigrants arrested under the 287(g) program. Florida lawmakers and activists are pushing back against the center, citing concerns about conditions, environmental impact, and tribal land. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Immigrants Arrive at Remote Detention Center: Alligator Alcatraz Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Florida Facility Built in 8 Days, Can Hold Thousands Detentions Under Federal-State Agreement State Lawmakers and Activists Push Back Against Alligator Alcatraz FAQs The first batch of immigrants has been taken to a newly constructed detention center deep in the Florida Everglades in a distant location, which has been nicknamed " Alligator Alcatraz ," as per an AP facility, built to house thousands of detainees, opened this week amid political backlash, and human rights protests against the center, according to the report. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier 's spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press that the immigrants are being sheltered there but did not give figures on how many have arrived or when specifically, as per the AP report. Press Secretary for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Jae Williams said that, 'People are there,' without sharing any more details, as per the General Uthmeier posted on social media X, 'Next stop: back to where they came from,' as quoted by AP. Uthmeier has been credited as the architect behind the Everglades proposal, as reported by READ: First it was alligator prisons in Florida, now Alaska wants a Bear Alcatraz for migrants The eight-day constructed detention center, erected on an airport training facility, can hold about 3,000 detainees initially, according to the AP report. Governor Ron DeSantis commended the speed of construction and security features, including the 200-plus security cameras, miles of barbed wire fencing, and hundreds of on-site security guards, as per the AP report. Expansion plans are in the works to add 500 beds at a time until it can accommodate approximately 5,000 individuals by early July, according to the report.A Trump administration official told AP that the immigrants who are arrested by Florida law enforcement officers under the federal government's 287(g) program will be taken to the facility, as reported by READ : July 4th stimulus? What to know about possible payments before Independence Day Meanwhile, a group of Florida Democratic state lawmakers went to the facility on Thursday to conduct 'an official legislative site visit,' over concerns about conditions for detainees, legislators said, 'As lawmakers, we have both the legal right and moral responsibility to inspect this site, demand answers, and expose this abuse before it becomes the national blueprint,' as quoted in the human rights advocates and Native American tribes have voiced their concerns that it is a threat to the fragile Everglades system and would be cruel to detainees because of heat and mosquitoes, and is on land the tribes consider sacred, as reported in the AP READ: US job market sees 147,000 new jobs in June amid Trump's trade war uncertainties It's a nickname for a newly built immigrant detention center deep in the Florida Everglades, created by the DeSantis administration, as per the AP opened with capacity for about 3,000 people and is set to expand to house up to 5,000 by early July, as per the AP report.
