By Florida Attorney General Olivia Rondeau
President Donald Trump offered some advice on outrunning the Florida wildlife to illegal migrants who may try to escape the new detention center in the Everglades, unofficially known as 鈥淎lligator Alcatraz,鈥 ahead of his presidential tour on Tuesday.
The facility, announced by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) last month, was erected at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport inside Big Cypress National Preserve in just eight days by the State Emergency Response Team (SERT):
When a reporter asked Trump if the snake- and gator-infested waters around the new center are meant to serve as a deterrent to potential escapees, he answered, 鈥淚 guess that鈥檚 the concept.鈥
鈥淭his is not a nice business. I guess that鈥檚 the concept,鈥 he repeated.
鈥淭he snakes are fast, but alligators 鈥 we鈥檙e going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison,鈥 the president said, making side-to-side gestures with his arms.
Continuing to illustrate the technique, Trump joked, 鈥淒on鈥檛 run in a straight line. Run like this.鈥
Uthmeier said the location is ideal for a detention center because it is surrounded by the Everglades and its predatory wildlife in a video taken at the site in June:
鈥淚 call it 鈥楢lligator Alcatraz,’鈥 the attorney general said.
鈥淚t presents an efficient, low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility, because you don鈥檛 need to invest that much in the perimeter. If people get out, there鈥檚 not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons.鈥
Trump joined Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem at the remote facility later on Tuesday, and added, 鈥淭his is what you need. A lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators.鈥
He also remarked that the remote facility 鈥渕ight be as good as the real Alcatraz site,鈥 referring to the historic maximum security prison in San Francisco, California.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.