A prison for migrants has been opened in the USA. What you Need to know about Alcatraz with Alligators

In July, US President Donald Trump visited a new prison in Florida, where migrants who have illegally arrived in the country are supposed to be sent. This place is surrounded by a network of canals that are teeming with alligators — the institution has already been nicknamed "Alcatraz with Alligators." A little later it became known that the American authorities plan to reopen the famous prison on Alcatraz Island, allocating more than $ 2 billion for this. What is remarkable about the new prison for migrants and what other non—standard penitentiary facilities there are - in the Izvestia article.

What is known about the prison

The temporary detention center for illegal migrants, which is informally called "Alcatraz with Alligators," was built in just eight days. It is located 50 km west of Miami and is located on an almost abandoned airfield on the territory of the Big Cypress National Reserve. The prison is designed for 5,000 people. At least 200 video surveillance cameras are installed at the facility, it is protected by 8.5 km of barbed wire, and security is provided by over 400 guards.

• The conditions of detention there are harsh: detainees live in cages, sleep on two-tiered bunks, and there is always a bright light. Prisoners complain that they are fed once a day with food infected with maggots. There is also allegedly no water to wash there.

Erroneous name and Indian claims. 5 Facts about Alcatraz Prison

• The media notes that the situation resembles a Terrorist Detention Center (Centro de Confiramiento del Terrorismo, CECOT) in El Salvador (we have described more details about the structure of this "mega prison" here). It is the largest correctional facility in the world, with a capacity of 40,000 prisoners. Many members of local and international gang groups are serving their sentences there, in particular, MS-13 (aka "Mara Salvatrucha", aka "The Brigade of Wandering Salvadoran Ants") and Tren de Aragua, which is considered the most influential criminal organization in the Western hemisphere in the field of human trafficking.

• Alcatraz with Alligators currently holds about 750 detainees. According to the list obtained by the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times, they come from several dozen countries around the world. About half of them are immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba. Age — from 18 to 73 years. Detainees wear bracelets, the color of which indicates the severity of their civil or criminal offenses. For example, yellow indicates less serious violations, while red indicates serious crimes.

Who is being sent to Alcatraz with Alligators

• According to media reports, hundreds of immigrants who do not have a criminal record in the United States are being held in prison. Along with the detainees who have been charged and convicted, there are over 250 people who are suspected only of violating migration laws, but who do not have a criminal record.

• One third of the detainees have criminal convictions. We are talking about those convicted of various crimes, from attempted murder to illegal re—entry into the country and traffic violations.

• All this goes against the claims of officials that only "villains" and "crazy psychopaths" who have no place in the United States are sent to the temporary detention center. As an example, the Minister of Homeland Security, Kristy Noem, cited the case of a cannibal migrant. He was put on a flight to be sent home, but, already being in the chair, he began to eat himself. The staff had to take him off the plane and take him to the doctors.

Why is the project being criticized

• The creation of the center was the idea of Florida Attorney General James Utmaier. The prison is located in a swampy area, where alligators, crocodiles and dark tiger pythons are found, among others.

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The dark tiger python is one of the largest snakes on earth. The length of adult individuals is usually 2-3 meters. However, in 2023, a record snake with a length of about 6 m was caught in Florida. No deaths from pythons living in the wild have been reported in the state.

• Crowds of protesters gathered at the prison construction site. Among the dissatisfied are the Mikasuki and Seminole tribes living in the neighborhood, as well as environmentalists. They believe that Alcatraz with Alligators poses a threat to wildlife. Two environmental organizations have even filed a lawsuit and are trying to close the prison.

• Trump, who visited the facility with Christie Noam and Florida Governor Ron Desantis, dismissed the environmentalists' arguments, saying that the wildlife of the local swamps would outlive humanity.

• Before the trip, the US president stated that the only way for people who will be held there to leave the institution is deportation. He even advised those who would try to escape from prison to move not in a straight line, but in a zigzag pattern, supposedly so they would have a 1% better chance of escaping from alligators. Zoologists at the same time claim that such recommendations are untenable.: The only way to escape from predators is to run at a high speed.

• Another lawsuit was recently filed by a group of Democrats from among state legislators who were denied prison visits, although under Florida law they have the right to make unannounced visits to correctional facilities to assess conditions of detention.

An example for the whole country

• The prison will require annual funding of $450 million. US President Donald Trump hopes that the center will become a model for the whole country, and similar institutions will appear in other states.

Rock of Doom: Alcatraz will resume operations by Trump's decree

Illegal criminals may go to the once most famous prison in America.

• As part of the information support on the occasion of the opening of Alcatraz with Alligators, American officials posted photos of alligators in a uniform headdress of the US Immigration and Customs Service on social networks. The Florida branch of the Republican Party has added clothes and thermal covers for bottles with a predator image to its merch set.

• The American leader is clearly deliberately trying to instill fear in illegal immigrants, a tough fight against whom he has made one of the key points of his election program. He has consistently implemented this policy since returning to the White House in January this year.

What other unusual prisons are there?

• An extraordinary correctional institution operates in Bolivia. San Pedro Prison is located in the capital of the country, La Paz. About 3,000 people are serving their sentences here, despite the fact that the prison was originally designed for about 600 "guests". Order in the prison is maintained not by representatives of the security forces, but by the prisoners themselves. Judging by the story of one of them, there are two zones — conditionally, "heaven" and "hell". To find yourself in a "paradise" where, for example, former police officers and judges are kept, you need to pay an "entrance ticket" — about $ 300. For the right to get into the most comfortable cell, you will have to pay about $ 5 thousand. Some prisoners live with their families, their wives and children. It is reported that there is even cocaine production in the prison. The drug is distributed not only among the inhabitants of San Pedro, but is also supplied "at large", including through visiting relatives.

• Bastoy Norwegian Prison, which is located on an island of the same name in the fjords 70 km from Oslo, is designed for about a hundred convicts, including for serious crimes such as murder, rape and drug trafficking. Only those who have no more than five years left of their sentence can get the right to transfer here from another prison. The prisoners here live in cabins for six people. Everyone has their own room, with a TV and Internet access. They cook breakfast and dinner in their own kitchen, using products they can buy at the prison store. They have bicycles, skis, a library, and a solarium at their disposal. The most important rule is that in order to earn a minimum wage (about 8 euros per day), the nurses must work. You can work on a local farm where vegetables and fruits are grown and horses are kept, and in several workshops.