Latest news with #FloridaRepublicanParty
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida GOP sells ‘Alligator Alcatraz' merchandise ahead of Trump visit
The Florida Republican Party is selling merchandise touting the Florida migrant detention facility known as 'Alligator Alcatraz' ahead of President Trump's visit to the site on Tuesday. The state party is selling men's and women's T-shirts retailing for $30, as well as baseball hats going for $27 and beverage coolers for $15. Trump is set to visit the detention facility with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), whom Trump has endorsed for governor next year. 'We're going out to Alligator Alcatraz. It's an East Coast version,' Trump told reporters Tuesday. 'It should be very exciting, very good. We worked very hard on it with Ron and everybody, and I think it's going to be great.' The site includes soft-sided holding units for hundreds of detainees through a partnership in which the federal government will provide the funding. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has overseen its build-out and management. Additional holding units will be added through next month, under the agreement. The facility is expected to cost about $450 million per year, which will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Shelter and Services Program that was used to house asylum-seekers during the Biden administration. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Don't call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz.' Call it a concentration camp.
For many Americans, the word 'concentration camp' evokes another country, a time long ago and a facility operating in the dark of night, away from the prying eyes of an outraged public. But a new concentration camp opened in Florida's Everglades this week, and it's the opposite of a secret. President Donald Trump toured the facility with reporters in tow. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials posed with him, laughing in front of cages meant for human beings. The Florida Republican Party launched merchandise and gave the camp a nickname, 'Alligator Alcatraz,' that the state made official. But it's not just a new prison, Alcatraz or otherwise. I visited four continents to write a global history of concentration camps. This facility's purpose fits the classic model: mass civilian detention without real trials targeting vulnerable groups for political gain based on ethnicity, race, religion or political affiliation rather than for crimes committed. And its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country. This camp stands apart from other immigration detention facilities for a few reasons. First, its projected capacity of 5,000 beds is several times the average detention center (though Immigration and Customs Enforcement is looking at even larger facilities). Its improvised tents and chain-link cages put detainees on display reminiscent of El Salvador's CECOT prison. And it is billed as a 'temporary' camp, with the theory being that the administration can seamlessly process massive numbers of detainees with rapid-fire judicial hearings by National Guard members-turned-immigration judges. In practice, this is unlikely to go smoothly. While concentration camps have historical roots in earlier forms of mass detention, they themselves are modern. The patenting and mass production of barbed wire and automatic weapons over a century ago made it possible to detain large groups with a small guard force for the first time. At the turn of the twentieth century, imperial powers such as Spain and Britain set up concentration camps in colonial regions. The camps had staggering death tolls that made early systems unpopular. But World War I led to a revival of the concept, with nearly a million people detained globally. The wartime camps paved the way for similar systems after the conflict ended, such asthe Soviet Gulag and the detention of homeless people in multiple countries. Those were all in place before the Nazis came to power, so Hitler's camps aren't the lone precedent for the Everglades project. But even the extreme case of Germany offers disturbing parallels — and not just because the Nazis also allowed reporters to tour their camps. Some defenders of current immigration policy say that arbitrary detention or abuse of foreigners isn't like what Hitler did to citizens. Years before he came to power, however, Hitler wrote about his goal of stripping German Jews of legal protections so that they would have no more rights than aliens and could be put into camps. In 1935, at Hitler's behest, the German Reichstag passed the Nuremberg Laws, a focus of which was to identify German Jews and revoke their citizenship, with countless other regulations restricting them. Dreaming of a pure Aryan nation, the Nazis initially imagined their targets would self-deport. Once the myth of self-deportation collapsed, they turned to more punitive measures. On Tuesday, Noem similarly noted that the Everglades camp was meant to frighten immigrants into self-deporting. 'If you don't,' she said, 'you may end up here.' What will happen in the U.S. if the pressure to self-deport fails, as it did nearly a century ago? We're already seeing aggressive moves against people living in the U.S. legally. The administration is still trying to strip legal status from half a million Haitians who were allowed in before Trump's return. The DOJ is prioritizing cases involving the possible revocation of citizenship, working to undo birthright citizenship itself and targeting the citizenship of political enemies. The administration wants to define who can be an American in ways that appear profoundly racist, and it seems immigrants are the most politically advantageous large population to target. And there are parallels in U.S. history for these camps as well. Centuries of Indian removal and genocide set the stage for abuse of those not counted as citizens. Lawmakers and courts wielded the weight of law or executive authority to prop up slavery, allowing cross-border trafficking and detention of humans denied rights. Concentration camps holding Japanese Americans during World War II showed the U.S. government was eminently capable of unjust detention of citizens and noncitizens alike. And Trump himself has hailed 'Operation Wetback,' a lethal, abuse-filled deportation operation carried out by Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration that included detention camps. Today in Florida, the U.S. is expanding on its own concentration camp legacy. We're seeing other clues that police-state tactics are intensifying in America. Masked agents in unmarked cars or without warrants who refuse to show IDs are sweeping people off the street. Some who vanish reemerge; others have been effectively disappeared. Meanwhile, the budget reconciliation bill would likely make Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the words of the American Immigration Council, the 'the largest investment in detention and deportation in U.S. history.' This expansion risks quickly making ICE the center of gravity for state overreach. In the Everglades Tuesday, Trump announced his interest in a multistate network of sites like the one he came to see. Florida proposed the facility as a temporary camp for deportations, but the historical term for this kind of camp is a transit camp, and they're concentration camps, too. The U.S. also has already sent detainees to El Salvador, Panama, Rwanda and Libya, among other nations, and is in talks with dozens more countries. We're watching the imposition of a global concentration camp network. 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. Members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida are already opposing and protesting the Everglades concentration camp as a threat to sacred lands. Five Democratic state lawmakers tried to visit the camp Thursday, but were turned away. In the face of ICE raids, many communities in Los Angeles cancelled Fourth of July celebrations. But activists continued their protests, including an installation of the disappeared outside City Hall. The history of this kind of detention underlines that it would be a mistake to think the current cruelties are the endpoint. America is likely just getting started. This article was originally published on
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Trump tours 'Alligator Alcatraz' as he pushes for more deportations
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured a remote migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" as his Republican allies advanced a sweeping spending bill that could ramp up deportations. The facility sits 60 kilometers from Miami in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons, fearsome imagery the White House has leveraged to show its determination to purge migrants it says were wrongly allowed to stay in the country under former President Joe Biden's administration. Trump raved about the facility's quick construction as he scanned rows of dozens of empty bunk beds enclosed in cages and warned about the threatening conditions surrounding the facility. "I looked outside and that's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said at a roundtable event after his tour. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is really deportation." The complex in southern Florida at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport is estimated to cost $450 million annually and could house some 5,000 people, officials estimate. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he will send 100 National Guard troops there and that people could start arriving at the facility as soon as Wednesday. In promoting the opening of the facility, US officials posted on social media images of alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats. The Florida Republican Party is selling gator-themed clothing and beer koozies. Two environmental groups filed a legal motion last week seeking to block further construction of the detention site, saying it violated federal, state and local environmental laws. The lawsuit, filed in US district court, said construction will lead to traffic, artificial light and the use of large power generators, all of which would "significantly impact" the environment. The groups, Friends of the Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity, said the site is located at or near the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected area that is a habitat for endangered Florida panthers and other animals. "Putting aside whether intractable political gridlock over immigration reform constitutes an 'emergency,' it does not give license to the state and federal governments to simply disregard the laws that govern federal projects affecting environmentally sensitive lands, essential waterways, national parks and preserves, and endangered species," the groups wrote. Some local leaders, including from the nearby Miccosukee and Seminole tribes, have objected to the facility's construction and the construction has drawn crowds of demonstrators. Trump dismissed environmental concerns on Tuesday, saying in wide-ranging remarks that the wetlands' wildlife would outlast the human species. He said the detention facility was a template for what he'd like to do nationwide. "We'd like to see them in many states," Trump said. The Republican-controlled US Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that adds tens of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement alongside several of the president's other tax-and-spending plans. Trump has lobbied fiercely to have the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and the measure still needs a final sign-off from the House of Representatives. The Republican president, who maintains a home in Florida, has for a decade made hardline border policies central to his political agenda. One in eight 2024 US election voters said immigration was the most important issue. But Trump's campaign pledges to deport as many as 1 million people per year have run up against protests by the affected communities, legal challenges, employer demands for cheap labor and a funding crunch for a government running chronic deficits. Lawyers for some of the detained migrants have challenged the legality of the deportations and criticized the conditions in temporary detention facilities. The numbers in federal immigration detention have risen sharply to 56,000 by June 15, from 39,000 when Trump took office, government data show, and his administration has pushed to find more space. The White House has said the detentions are a necessary public safety measure, and some of the detained migrants have criminal records, though US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention statistics also show an eightfold increase in arrests of people charged only with immigration violations. Trump has spoken admiringly of vast, isolated prisons built by El Salvador and his administration has held some migrants at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, in Cuba, best known for housing foreign terrorism suspects following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US. US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat who represents a district near the Florida facility, said in an emailed statement that 'Trump and Republicans badly need this wasteful, dangerous, mass misery distraction' from a bill that would cause state residents to lose their health care benefits. (Reuters)
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Trump tours 'Alligator Alcatraz' in deportation push
US President Donald Trump has toured a remote migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" as his Republican allies advanced a sweeping spending bill that could ramp up deportations. The facility sits some 60km from Miami in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons, fearsome imagery the White House has leveraged to show its determination to purge migrants it says were wrongly allowed to stay in the country under former President Joe Biden's administration. Trump raved about the facility's quick construction as he scanned rows of dozens of empty bunk beds enclosed in cages and warned about the threatening conditions surrounding the facility. "I looked outside and that's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said on Tuesday at a roundtable event after his tour. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is really deportation." The complex in southern Florida at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport is estimated to cost $US450 million annually and could house some 5,000 people, officials estimate. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he will send 100 National Guard troops there and that people could start arriving at the facility as soon as Wednesday. In promoting the opening of the facility, US officials posted on social media images of alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats. The Florida Republican Party is selling gator-themed clothing and drink holders. Two environmental groups filed a legal motion last week seeking to block further construction of the detention site, saying it violated federal, state and local environmental laws. The lawsuit, filed in US district court, said construction will lead to traffic, artificial light and the use of large power generators, all of which would "significantly impact" the environment. The groups, Friends of the Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity, said the site is located at or near the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected area that is a habitat for endangered Florida panthers and other animals. The Republican-controlled US Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that adds tens of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement alongside several of the president's other tax-and-spending plans. Trump has lobbied fiercely to have the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and the measure still needs a final sign-off from the House of Representatives. The Republican president, who maintains a home in Florida, has for a decade made hardline border policies central to his political agenda. One in eight 2024 US election voters said immigration was the most important issue. But Trump's campaign pledges to deport as many as one million people per year have run up against protests by the affected communities, legal challenges, employer demands for cheap labour and a funding crunch for a government running chronic deficits. Lawyers for some of the detained migrants have challenged the legality of the deportations and criticised the conditions in temporary detention facilities. The numbers in federal immigration detention have risen sharply to 56,000 by June 15, from 39,000 when Trump took office, government data show, and his administration has pushed to find more space. The White House has said the detentions are a necessary public safety measure, and some of the detained migrants have criminal records, though US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention statistics also show an eight-fold increase in arrests of people charged only with immigration violations. Trump has spoken admiringly of vast, isolated prisons built by El Salvador and his administration has held some migrants at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, in Cuba, best known for housing foreign terrorism suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. US President Donald Trump has toured a remote migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" as his Republican allies advanced a sweeping spending bill that could ramp up deportations. The facility sits some 60km from Miami in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons, fearsome imagery the White House has leveraged to show its determination to purge migrants it says were wrongly allowed to stay in the country under former President Joe Biden's administration. Trump raved about the facility's quick construction as he scanned rows of dozens of empty bunk beds enclosed in cages and warned about the threatening conditions surrounding the facility. "I looked outside and that's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said on Tuesday at a roundtable event after his tour. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is really deportation." The complex in southern Florida at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport is estimated to cost $US450 million annually and could house some 5,000 people, officials estimate. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he will send 100 National Guard troops there and that people could start arriving at the facility as soon as Wednesday. In promoting the opening of the facility, US officials posted on social media images of alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats. The Florida Republican Party is selling gator-themed clothing and drink holders. Two environmental groups filed a legal motion last week seeking to block further construction of the detention site, saying it violated federal, state and local environmental laws. The lawsuit, filed in US district court, said construction will lead to traffic, artificial light and the use of large power generators, all of which would "significantly impact" the environment. The groups, Friends of the Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity, said the site is located at or near the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected area that is a habitat for endangered Florida panthers and other animals. The Republican-controlled US Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that adds tens of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement alongside several of the president's other tax-and-spending plans. Trump has lobbied fiercely to have the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and the measure still needs a final sign-off from the House of Representatives. The Republican president, who maintains a home in Florida, has for a decade made hardline border policies central to his political agenda. One in eight 2024 US election voters said immigration was the most important issue. But Trump's campaign pledges to deport as many as one million people per year have run up against protests by the affected communities, legal challenges, employer demands for cheap labour and a funding crunch for a government running chronic deficits. Lawyers for some of the detained migrants have challenged the legality of the deportations and criticised the conditions in temporary detention facilities. The numbers in federal immigration detention have risen sharply to 56,000 by June 15, from 39,000 when Trump took office, government data show, and his administration has pushed to find more space. The White House has said the detentions are a necessary public safety measure, and some of the detained migrants have criminal records, though US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention statistics also show an eight-fold increase in arrests of people charged only with immigration violations. Trump has spoken admiringly of vast, isolated prisons built by El Salvador and his administration has held some migrants at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, in Cuba, best known for housing foreign terrorism suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. US President Donald Trump has toured a remote migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" as his Republican allies advanced a sweeping spending bill that could ramp up deportations. The facility sits some 60km from Miami in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons, fearsome imagery the White House has leveraged to show its determination to purge migrants it says were wrongly allowed to stay in the country under former President Joe Biden's administration. Trump raved about the facility's quick construction as he scanned rows of dozens of empty bunk beds enclosed in cages and warned about the threatening conditions surrounding the facility. "I looked outside and that's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said on Tuesday at a roundtable event after his tour. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is really deportation." The complex in southern Florida at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport is estimated to cost $US450 million annually and could house some 5,000 people, officials estimate. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he will send 100 National Guard troops there and that people could start arriving at the facility as soon as Wednesday. In promoting the opening of the facility, US officials posted on social media images of alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats. The Florida Republican Party is selling gator-themed clothing and drink holders. Two environmental groups filed a legal motion last week seeking to block further construction of the detention site, saying it violated federal, state and local environmental laws. The lawsuit, filed in US district court, said construction will lead to traffic, artificial light and the use of large power generators, all of which would "significantly impact" the environment. The groups, Friends of the Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity, said the site is located at or near the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected area that is a habitat for endangered Florida panthers and other animals. The Republican-controlled US Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that adds tens of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement alongside several of the president's other tax-and-spending plans. Trump has lobbied fiercely to have the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and the measure still needs a final sign-off from the House of Representatives. The Republican president, who maintains a home in Florida, has for a decade made hardline border policies central to his political agenda. One in eight 2024 US election voters said immigration was the most important issue. But Trump's campaign pledges to deport as many as one million people per year have run up against protests by the affected communities, legal challenges, employer demands for cheap labour and a funding crunch for a government running chronic deficits. Lawyers for some of the detained migrants have challenged the legality of the deportations and criticised the conditions in temporary detention facilities. The numbers in federal immigration detention have risen sharply to 56,000 by June 15, from 39,000 when Trump took office, government data show, and his administration has pushed to find more space. The White House has said the detentions are a necessary public safety measure, and some of the detained migrants have criminal records, though US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention statistics also show an eight-fold increase in arrests of people charged only with immigration violations. Trump has spoken admiringly of vast, isolated prisons built by El Salvador and his administration has held some migrants at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, in Cuba, best known for housing foreign terrorism suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. US President Donald Trump has toured a remote migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" as his Republican allies advanced a sweeping spending bill that could ramp up deportations. The facility sits some 60km from Miami in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons, fearsome imagery the White House has leveraged to show its determination to purge migrants it says were wrongly allowed to stay in the country under former President Joe Biden's administration. Trump raved about the facility's quick construction as he scanned rows of dozens of empty bunk beds enclosed in cages and warned about the threatening conditions surrounding the facility. "I looked outside and that's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said on Tuesday at a roundtable event after his tour. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is really deportation." The complex in southern Florida at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport is estimated to cost $US450 million annually and could house some 5,000 people, officials estimate. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he will send 100 National Guard troops there and that people could start arriving at the facility as soon as Wednesday. In promoting the opening of the facility, US officials posted on social media images of alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats. The Florida Republican Party is selling gator-themed clothing and drink holders. Two environmental groups filed a legal motion last week seeking to block further construction of the detention site, saying it violated federal, state and local environmental laws. The lawsuit, filed in US district court, said construction will lead to traffic, artificial light and the use of large power generators, all of which would "significantly impact" the environment. The groups, Friends of the Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity, said the site is located at or near the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected area that is a habitat for endangered Florida panthers and other animals. The Republican-controlled US Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that adds tens of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement alongside several of the president's other tax-and-spending plans. Trump has lobbied fiercely to have the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and the measure still needs a final sign-off from the House of Representatives. The Republican president, who maintains a home in Florida, has for a decade made hardline border policies central to his political agenda. One in eight 2024 US election voters said immigration was the most important issue. But Trump's campaign pledges to deport as many as one million people per year have run up against protests by the affected communities, legal challenges, employer demands for cheap labour and a funding crunch for a government running chronic deficits. Lawyers for some of the detained migrants have challenged the legality of the deportations and criticised the conditions in temporary detention facilities. The numbers in federal immigration detention have risen sharply to 56,000 by June 15, from 39,000 when Trump took office, government data show, and his administration has pushed to find more space. The White House has said the detentions are a necessary public safety measure, and some of the detained migrants have criminal records, though US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention statistics also show an eight-fold increase in arrests of people charged only with immigration violations. Trump has spoken admiringly of vast, isolated prisons built by El Salvador and his administration has held some migrants at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, in Cuba, best known for housing foreign terrorism suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
New Straits Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Trump tours 'Alligator Alcatraz' as he pushes for more deportations
OCHOPEE, Florida: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured a remote migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" as his Republican allies advanced a sweeping spending bill that could ramp up deportations. The facility sits some 37 miles (60 km) from Miami in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons—fearsome imagery the White House has leveraged to show its determination to purge migrants it says were wrongly allowed to stay in the country under former President Joe Biden's administration. Trump praised the facility's rapid construction as he scanned rows of dozens of empty bunk beds enclosed in cages and warned of the threatening conditions surrounding the compound. "I looked outside and that's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said at a roundtable event following his tour. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only way out is really deportation." The complex, located at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport in southern Florida, is estimated to cost US$450 million annually and could house approximately 5,000 people, officials estimate. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he will deploy 100 National Guard troops to the site, with detainees expected to arrive as early as Wednesday. To promote the facility's opening, US officials shared images on social media of alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats. The Florida Republican Party is also marketing gator-themed clothing and beer koozies. Two environmental groups filed a legal motion last week seeking to block further construction, arguing that the project violates federal, state and local environmental laws. The lawsuit, filed in US district court, claims the development will lead to increased traffic, artificial lighting and the use of large power generators—all of which would "significantly impact" the environment. The organisations—Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity—said the site is located at or near the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected habitat for endangered Florida panthers and other species. "Putting aside whether intractable political gridlock over immigration reform constitutes an 'emergency,' it does not give licence to the state and federal governments to simply disregard the laws that govern federal projects affecting environmentally sensitive lands, essential waterways, national parks and preserves, and endangered species," the groups wrote. Local leaders, including representatives of the nearby Miccosukee and Seminole tribes, have voiced strong objections to the facility's construction, which has also drawn crowds of demonstrators. Trump dismissed environmental concerns on Tuesday, stating in wide-ranging remarks that the region's wildlife would likely outlive humanity. He added that the detention centre was a model for what he hoped to replicate nationwide. "We'd like to see them in many states," Trump said. HARDLINE POLICIES The Republican-controlled US Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that allocates tens of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement, alongside several of the president's tax-and-spending priorities. Trump has pushed aggressively to have the legislation enacted before the July 4 Independence Day holiday. The measure still requires final approval from the House of Representatives. The Republican president, who resides in Florida, has made hardline immigration policies a central tenet of his political platform for over a decade. One in eight US voters in the 2024 election have cited immigration as their top concern. However, Trump's pledges to deport up to 1 million people annually face significant obstacles, including protests from affected communities, legal challenges, employer reliance on low-cost labour, and a federal budget constrained by chronic deficits. Lawyers representing some detained migrants have challenged the legality of mass deportations and criticised conditions in temporary holding centres. According to government data, the number of people in federal immigration detention rose sharply to 56,000 by 15 June, up from 39,000 when Trump took office. His administration has been actively seeking additional space to accommodate the growing population. The White House maintains that detentions are necessary for public safety, citing the presence of criminal records among some detainees. However, statistics from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement reveal an eight-fold increase in arrests of individuals charged solely with immigration violations. Trump has expressed admiration for the expansive, isolated prisons built by El Salvador and has used the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba to detain some migrants—best known for housing foreign terrorism suspects following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States. US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat whose district borders the Florida facility, criticised the project in a statement, saying: "Trump and Republicans badly need this wasteful, dangerous, mass misery distraction" to divert attention from a bill that would strip state residents of their health care benefits.
