It has long been no secret that Trump has a particular fondness for violence, threats, and cruelty. He is a staunch supporter of the death penalty and executions. Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, could not have come up with a more pleasing gift for him than a prison for undocumented immigrants being built in the Everglades National Park, set to become the most inhumane prison in the world.
The Everglades National Park is a vast swamp stretching between Florida’s east and west coasts. It is teeming with massive pythons, alligators, bears, and panthers. The “compassionate Christian” idea is based on the notion that, like Alcatraz, escape is impossible, anyone who tries to leave the camp will be immediately devoured by wild animals. People being brought here are undocumented immigrants who have committed no crimes.
This is not a mocking meme, but a photo posted on the official X page of the US Department of Homeland Security, depicting the Alligator Alcatraz, and advertising its imminent opening. The depiction of ICE is also perfect. The most shocking thing is that they are not ashamed of it.
Since the entire construction is illegal, there are no concrete buildings being erected. Instead, massive tents will house those arrested by ICE. The Everglades is only thirty minutes from the editorial office of Amerikai Népszava. Everyone living here knows that summer in the Everglades brings unbearable heat (104°F), suffocating humidity, a foul stench from the swamp, and clouds of mosquitoes. During the rainy season, there is no tent that can withstand the torrential downpours.
Even without wild animals, this represents uninhabitable, inhumane conditions. In the fall, hurricanes and tornadoes sweep through the Everglades. The first hurricane will tear this tent camp apart, leaving detainees defenseless in the middle of the swamp, surrounded by hungry wildlife. Snakes and alligators will swim in. This is worse than the punishment of dragging sailors beneath the ship’s hull, at least they had a better chance of avoiding shark attacks.
Even the Nazis might have envied such an idea. It is no coincidence that protesters compare ICE to the Gestapo. Executing undocumented immigrants would arguably be more humane. These are individuals who, under the law, could only be detained, imprisoned, and deported by court order.
The vast majority of undocumented immigrants have lived and worked in the U.S. for decades. Their labor is indispensable, their children are U.S. citizens, and they pay taxes. Courts have granted many of them permission to stay and have not ordered their deportation. Trump’s cruel and unlawful organization now arrests people without court rulings and without the right to appeal.
These people will be taken to an uninhabitable tent prison in the Florida swamp among wild animals. The entire point is to allow Trump to showcase a brutal crackdown on undocumented immigrants, to instill fear in everyone, and to force people to leave the country before they are thrown to the pythons, alligators, or panthers.
The whole project is pure propaganda. Instead of deportation, they are being sent to concentration camps to be paraded around as “dangerous people” while Trump is portrayed as a heroic savior. Never before has such an inhumane and brutal prison been opened, especially for innocent people with no convictions. This could be considered a crime against humanity.
Such alligators swim around the planned prison, 96 percent of the area is aquatic habitat.
The Everglades National Park is a protected area. Experts say the prison could destroy the ecosystem and pollute the environment. Indigenous Miccosukee and Seminole tribes live in the Big Cypress National Preserve surrounding the proposed prison site. The construction has occupied part of the land where these tribes conduct sacred ceremonies and prayers. Republican officials bulldozed it without hesitation.
The former chief of the Miccosukee was no ordinary figure, he was the famous Osceola. His descendants still live here.
The Everglades swamp became a refuge for Indigenous people who refused to be relocated to distant reservations. The Seminoles retreated here after battles, where they could not be followed. Later, others joined them, displaced from all other territories. Only the swamp remained, a place where no one else could survive or battle the wildlife.
One of Osceola’s descendants once stopped the construction of an airport in the swamp. Now his great-grandchildren are protesting again. William “Popeye” Osceola, secretary of the Miccosukee tribe, says they are in constant struggle for their land and rights. Before being elected secretary (a chosen position) Osceola was an art teacher at the Miccosukee Indian School, teaching tribal traditions to students.
Construction is moving at breakneck speed so they can present Trump with his Nazi-style camp as soon as possible. DeSantis wants to reap the political benefits of the “Alligator Alcatraz” idea as quickly as he can. As unbelievable as it sounds, the plan was met with thunderous applause among Republicans nationwide. Donations surged. DeSantis has revived his presidential ambitions for 2028.
He doesn’t yet realize that Trump has already claimed that race for himself or one of his sons. None of this environmental destruction, endangerment of wildlife, or the torture and de facto murder of undocumented immigrants makes any sense. Because not everyone will survive this prison. But that only brings more joy and satisfaction to Trump, whom the evangelical Christian movement calls “God’s man,” “the chosen one,” and to some, the second coming of the Messiah.
Trump has begun turning America into a prison an entire country locked down. “Alligator Alcatraz” is a symbol of cruelty and satanic brutality, something America will be deeply ashamed of someday. It will be America’s Gulag. If Trump continues down the path of fascism and Nazism, jailing political opponents and critics without due process, even American citizens could end up in such prisons.
DeSantis wants Trump to attend the camp’s opening ceremony on July 1. It appears he will get his wish, as “Alligator Alcatraz” is vile, filthy, and inhumane enough to merit a presidential visit. Trump reportedly wants to personally inaugurate the most inhumane prison on earth to boost his popularity and intimidate critics and political adversaries.
Upon his arrival, the pythons, alligators, and panthers will retreat. Even wild animals understand hierarchy and they respect those more savage and cruel than themselves.
