Trump Unveils Harsh 'Alligator Alcatraz' Detention Center

President Donald Trump toured the newly built 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, constructed on an abandoned airfield at a cost of $450 million. The facility, designed to house thousands, is promoted by Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as both a deterrent and a model for similar centers nationwide, with options for voluntary self-deportation and a warning that processed detainees forfeit future legal entry. Trump joked about alligators deterring escapes and floated reviving San Francisco's Alcatraz prison for serious immigration violators, though that idea is still in planning. Critics, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, environmentalists, and protesters, condemned the center's inhumane conditions, the use of metal cages, and its potential to harm Everglades restoration efforts. The project has drawn comparisons to historical internment camps and sparked widespread national debate over the normalization of harsh immigration measures. Despite backlash, Trump and his allies defend the facility as a strong response to illegal immigration.