'Not A Place I Want To Go Hiking:' Trump Tours 'Alligator Alcatraz' As Senate Greenlights More Funding For Migrant Crackdown

U.S. President Donald Trump toured a remote detention facility dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ on Tuesday as the Senate voted to pass his signature bill that would provide billions of dollars for his anti-immigration efforts.

"I looked outside and that's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said about the facility located some 37 miles away from Miami, and inside a wetland filled with alligators, crocodiles, and pythons. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is really deportation," Trump said.

According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, he had proposed the idea for a “makeshift detention space”  to the Trump administration about a month ago, and this could be the first of many such facilities in the state. The state-run complex, located at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport, is estimated to cost $450 million annually and can accommodate about 5,000 people. People could arrive at the facility as early as Wednesday.

Social media posts from U.S. officials featured images of alligators wearing hats with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) logo, while the Florida Republican Party is selling gator-themed clothing and beer koozies.

The opening drew protests from environmentalists and human rights groups. According to a Reuters report, two environmental groups have filed lawsuits to block further construction of the detention site, saying it violated federal, state, and local environmental laws.

Trump’s migrant crackdown is putting a strain on the resources of the federal government. About 56,000 migrants remain under detention, much higher than the little over 41,000 migrants ICE can hold. The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that Senate Republicans passed on Tuesday provides billions of dollars more for a crackdown on migrants.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits surrounding private prison operators CoreCivic and Geo Group was in the ‘bullish’ territory, with high retail chatter, even as a Bloomberg report pointed out that they were not directly involved in the setup of ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’

On Monday, Texas Capital analysts assigned a ‘buy’ rating to both stocks, citing the potential for more monitoring and supervision contracts over the next 12 to 24 months.

Geo Group and CoreCivic stocks have lost 12% and 3.3%, respectively, this year.

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