A Concentration Camp in the Florida Swampland

In a remote patch of the Everglades, on the site of an airstrip once used to train pilots, the U.S. government erected a new “detention center” in just eight days. It holds 1,000 beds inside chain-link cages, housed in massive tents surrounded by 8,500 meters of barbed wire, 400 guards, hundreds of surveillance cameras—and the presence of alligators, snakes, disease-carrying mosquitoes, and brutal heat.

An actual gulag, in one of the most inhospitable regions of the United States—just 80 kilometers west of Miami.

Officially named Alligator Alcatraz, the facility is designed to hold thousands of immigrants detained as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. It’s intended for “the most menacing migrants, the most vicious people on the planet,” in Trump’s own words. The president attended the camp’s inauguration on July 1st, alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Trump joked that detainees would be taught how to evade alligators if they tried to escape while making a zigzag motion with his hand to illustrate.

The first group of detainees arrived two days later, reportedly to be held until deportation, according to the Associated Press.

MAGA activist Laura Loomer—who has recently supported normalizing relations with the Maduro regime—tweeted that “alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now,” referring to the Latino population in the States.

Venezuelan churro franchise Churromania faced backlash after sending food trucks to the site’s opening. The company later issued a statement claiming it was not an event they support, adding that they have no political agenda and stand for “joy, inclusion, and real impact.” Cuban-American-owned Elote Lovers was also hired to provide food for the inauguration. Yes, the kind of businesses whose Latino staff have been disproportionately targeted by ICE operations and anti-immigrant propaganda in recent months.

Alligator Alcatraz is not about safety or the rule of law. It’s about terror, about creating a spectacle of fear for U.S. audiences by publicly broadcasting the cruel internment of civil detainees: groups of immigrants, which will likely include Venezuelans soon.

Relief Efforts in the Andes and Llanos: Donate & Support

⛑️ Caritas Venezuela
📧 PayPal: [email protected]
With a national network and at least four active hubs in Mérida—all now operating as supply collection centers—Caritas has been carrying out humanitarian work in Venezuela for over two decades with the support of the Catholic Church.
More info: caritasvenezuela.org

⛑️ Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce Foundation
💳 Donate through their website: vaccfoundation.org/donate-now
VACC Foundation currently channels donations directly to Cáritas Venezuela and Dividendo Voluntario para la Comunidad, both of which are providing on-the-ground assistance.
More info: @vaccfoundation on Instagram

🧡 Even small donations make a real difference.