By EVAN VUCCI and MICHAEL LAUGHLIN
OCHOPEE, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump toured a newly built immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades surrounded by alligator-filled swamps and nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.” He praised it as a model for future nationwide facilities aimed at accelerating deportations, including possibly deporting U.S. citizens.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accompanied Trump on the tour. Originally expected to hold 5,000 people, the center will house around 3,000.
It was rapidly constructed by the DeSantis administration in eight days over 10 miles of swampland and is equipped with extensive security, including barbed wire, cameras and 400 personnel.
Immigrant advocates, environmental activists and Native Americans defending their ancestral homelands have thronged to the airstrip to protest.
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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
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