First Detainees Arrive at “Alligator Alcatraz” – Trump’s Deterrence Camp Begins Operations

Deep in the shimmering swamp of the Everglades, where mosquitoes fly thicker than morning fog and alligators lurk between reeds, a place has officially begun operations that some already describe as a symbol of a new America: “Alligator Alcatraz,” the first deportation camp on US soil that resembles more a warning than a government facility. On July 3, 2025, the first detainees arrived there - people without valid papers, picked up by police in Florida and interned without a judicial warrant. “People are there,” confirmed Jae Williams, spokesperson for Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier, without giving further details. Neither the exact number of detainees nor their time of arrival was disclosed. Uthmeier himself, considered the mastermind behind the camp, wrote on the platform X, “Next stop: back to where they came from.” A sentence that, in its coldness, feels as if it came from another era - or a dark novel. The camp, built on the site of a former training airfield, was erected in just eight days. It is initially meant to hold 3,000 people, later up to 5,000. It is equipped with more than 200 surveillance cameras, over 28,000 feet of barbed wire, and 400 security personnel. The detainees are interned under the controversial “287(g) program” - an agreement between federal authorities and local police that allows migrants to be detained without a court order and handed over directly to ICE. Anyone in Florida who is stopped at a traffic check now ends up not in pretrial custody, but in the swamp camp. Welcome to Trump’s America.

Governor Ron DeSantis and his allies are selling the location as part of the concept: far from cities, in a region full of swamps, mosquitoes, and tropical storms, the camp is meant to deter. The name “Alligator Alcatraz,” inspired by the infamous high-security prison off San Francisco, is not just cynical - it is a message: those who come will suffer. Those who stay will be broken. The site is meant to keep people from fleeing in the first place - whether from violence, poverty, or political persecution. The goal is not integration but intimidation. But resistance is already forming. Environmental groups and Indigenous communities have filed lawsuits. The camp lies not only on sacred tribal land, they argue, but also threatens the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades. “The heat, the insects, the flooding risk - this is no place for people,” reads a statement from the Seminole Tribe. And indeed: during President Donald Trump’s opening visit on Tuesday, rainwater flooded several tents, the ground was soaked, plastic tarps flapped in the storm. Authorities assure that the camp can withstand a Category 2 hurricane - that means wind speeds of up to 110 mph. But even an ordinary summer rain was enough to flood parts of the facility.

Meanwhile, the camp is being marketed like an amusement park by Florida’s Republican Party. On conservative media channels, graphics circulate showing alligators wearing ICE caps “guarding” the camp. There are T-shirts with the slogan “Alligator Alcatraz,” beer coolers with the facility’s logo, and memes saying, “Come on in - we’ll send you back.” The rule of law, it seems, has long since become a stage prop for political marketing. What is emerging here in the swamps of Florida is not just another piece in Trump’s immigration policy. It is a break with the basic principles of civilization. A camp that serves more to intimidate than to uphold the law. A stage set of fear, built in a landscape that resists - ecologically, culturally, politically. The alligators may be silent. But the swamp speaks - and with it, a country that is drifting ever further from its democratic ideals.