{"id":42899,"date":"2025-07-06T08:24:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T08:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/42899\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T08:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T08:24:11","slug":"trumps-alligator-alcatraz-risks-per-experts-hurricanes-mosquitoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/42899\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s \u2018Alligator Alcatraz\u2019 Risks Per Experts: Hurricanes, Mosquitoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tExperts are concerned about the dangerous conditions at Alligator Alcatraz<\/a>, the immigrant detention center that opened Tuesday in the Florida<\/a> Everglades. Hurricanes, flooding, and mosquitoes pose a more likely threat to people incarcerated there than the alligators and snakes that President Donald Trump<\/a> has \u201cjoked\u201d about<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBuilt in eight days, the facility consists of large tents, bunk beds, and chain link fences that form cages to hold about 3,000 people. It has already flooded once<\/a>. Despite the rudimentary setup, it will cost $450 million a year to run, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first group of immigrants<\/a> have already been brought to Alligator Alcatraz, according to<\/a> the Florida Division of Emergency Management. \u201cFlorida is proud to help facilitate @realDonaldTrump\u2019s mission to enforce immigration law,\u201d the division posted on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe facility\u2019s inhospitable nature is a selling point for Republicans. \u201cIf people get out, there\u2019s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons,\u201d Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a video promoting Alligator Alcatraz<\/a>. \u201cNowhere to go, nowhere to hide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe immigrants \u201care in a facility that is very inaccessible to lawyers, to family members, to oversight,\u201d Renata Bozzetto, deputy director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, told The Washington Post<\/a> in an article published Saturday. \u201cSo the location being so remote and isolated is a problem. Being in an environmentally fragile ecosystem is a problem. Being constructed with temporary materials will be catastrophic in case of a hurricane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe facility is in a High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, where building code requires that buildings have a wind-resistant design. Florida\u2019s Emergency Management Director, Kevin Guthrie, told The Washington Post that the structures are rated for winds traveling 110 miles an hour. For reference, top speeds of last year\u2019s Hurricane Milton reached 180 miles per hour<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a state where backyard pools are surrounded on all sides by screens, the mosquitos are so bad that television reporters are even having trouble doing their jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou\u2019re probably wondering why I\u2019m wearing a hoodie and a rain jacket, and that\u2019s because you can barely walk outside here because of the mosquitoes,\u201d said<\/a> NBC6\u2019s Hatzel Vela. \u201cNaturally, when you get a lot of rain and puddles of water, that of course breeds a lot of mosquitoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe mosquitoes can cause serious health risks.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe risk of mosquito-borne disease at this site is significant,\u201d Durland Fish, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Yale University School of Public Health told The Washington Post. Mosquitoes in the Everglades can cause neurological damage like encephalitis, which can be life threatening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe second you open up your car, your car is infested with mosquitoes,\u201d Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani told Fox 13<\/a>. She said she wore a mosquito net and was still bitten dozens of times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tEskamani was one of five Democrats who were denied entry<\/a> to the facility on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFlorida law gives legislators the authority to make unannounced visits to state-run facilities \u2014 to inspect conditions and check on the wellbeing of the people inside. I\u2019ve served in the Legislature for 13 years, and this has never happened,\u201d state Sen. Shevrin Jones posted on X<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye,\u201d the lawmakers said<\/a> in a joint statement.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tRepublicans have gleefully supported the facility\u2019s construction, with the Florida Republican Party selling merchandise<\/a> promoting the camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tSome donors are cashing in on the camp, Rolling Stone reported earlier this week<\/a>. For example, the president of CDR Companies, which Bloomberg reported \u201cwill run medical services and did some site preparation,\u201d has made donations to President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe facility is surrounded on three sides by the homes of Miccosukee and Seminole people, including their ceremonial sites.
\u00a0
\u201cIt\u2019s a place where we come for healing, where we come to pray,\u201d Betty Osceola, a member of the Everglades Advisory Board and the Miccosukee Tribe told NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n