President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to expand its immigration detention strategy with the construction of at least five new mega-centers for migrants in the United States. The model to follow is the controversial center recently inaugurated in Florida, dubbed by critics and activists as “Alligator Alcatraz”.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that there are already active conversations with five states governed by Republicans to replicate these facilities. Although the names of the states have not been publicly disclosed, sources close to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assure that priority is given to areas with a high presence of migrants and available federal resources.
Trump’s vision: more centers, fewer releases
The announcement follows statements by Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior advisor on immigration issues, who noted in an interview with Fox News that the goal is for “every Republican state” to work directly with DHS to build these mega-centers.
“Pick up the phone, call DHS, work with us to build facilities in your state so we can get illegals and criminals out,” Miller said, in a phrase that generated mixed reactions both inside and outside Congress.
The new centers would be focused on increasing detention capacity for undocumented migrants, especially in the face of increased ICE operations nationwide.
The plan is part of the “prolonged detention” policy, which seeks to avoid releases with electronic monitoring or humanitarian bail.
The example of Florida and the allegations in “Alligator Alcatraz”.
The model center is located in Florida, in a wetland area with a high presence of alligators, which has earned it the nickname “Alligator Alcatraz”.
The facility was designed to house more than 1,000 migrants in maximum security conditions, but has already come under heavy criticism.
This weekend, federal and state Democratic legislators from Florida visited the center for the first time and denounced that more than 750 migrants are being held “in cages” under conditions they described as “subhuman”.
They reported extreme heat, suffocating humidity, scarcity of drinking water and rotting food.
“I just got out of the immigration detention camp in the Florida Everglades. 750 humans in cages. We were not allowed to talk to the detainees. We did not walk through the occupied areas. There are immigrants with no criminal records,” exposed State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith.
The press did not have access to the official visit, although local media had already received similar reports of migrants detained at the site.
Makeshift tents, lack of ventilation and limited medical care are among the main concerns of human rights organizations.
Rejection from religious and civil sectors
The Archdiocese of Miami also joined in the criticism, calling the center “corrosive” and “inappropriate” for housing human beings.
No human being should be treated this way, regardless of their immigration status
Meanwhile, organizations such as the ACLU, United We Dream and Human Rights Watch are calling for a moratorium on the expansion of these centers and greater independent oversight.
