News | International
5 Jul 2025 15:57
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > International

    Donald Trump tours 'Alligator Alcatraz' in new warning to undocumented migrants

    Donald Trump is threatening to send unauthorised migrants to a prison camp surrounded by alligators in his latest move to expel "illegal aliens" from the US.


    Donald Trump is threatening to send unauthorised migrants to a prison camp surrounded by alligators in his latest move to expel "illegal aliens" from the US.

    The US president toured the new "Alligator Alcatraz" site in Florida as immigration officials shared memes of alligators wearing baseball caps emblazoned with "ICE" (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

    Florida Republicans are already marketing Alligator Alcatraz merchandise, including T-shirts and stubby holders.

    After touring the site, Mr Trump said its nickname was "very appropriate because I looked outside, and that's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon".

    "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is, really, deportation," he said.

    The site is located west of Miami in the US's largest area of subtropical wilderness, the Everglades, which is also home to crocodiles, pythons and rattlesnakes.

    "You have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators," Mr Trump said. "You don't have to pay them so much."

    His publicity-heavy tour and the social media campaign appear designed to scare unauthorised migrants into leaving the country voluntarily.

    Mr Trump campaigned heavily on a promise to oversee America's largest-ever mass deportation.

    Unauthorised border crossings have plummeted since his inauguration, but arrests have averaged about 750 per day — well below his administration's target of 3,000 a day.

    He was joined at the site by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said unauthorised migrants could avoid detention at the site by leaving the US.

    "If they self-deport and go home, they can come back legally — we will let them come back legally," she said. "But if you wait and we bring you to this facility, you don't ever get to come back to America."

    The facility is a project of the Florida state government, led by Governor Ron DeSantis, and was constructed in about eight days.

    It can house 3,000 people and could start receiving detainees within a day of Mr Trump's tour.

    The site has attracted protesters, including conservation advocates and Native American groups. Two environmental groups have lodged lawsuits against the project.

    The Trump administration insists its immigration crackdown is focused on violent criminals and Ms Trump says the facility will soon house "some of the most vicious people on the planet".

    But new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data suggests the majority of detainees do not have criminal histories.

    A CBS News analysis of the data, from the period since Mr Trump's inauguration, found about 40 per cent of immigrants detained by ICE had criminal convictions. Overall, about 8 per cent had been convicted of violent crimes.

    But DHS said that in Mr Trump's first 100 days, 70 per cent of ICE arrests were "criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges".

    Arguing for the policy, Ms Noem told a bizarre story about a migrant she called a "cannibal", who she said had been recently arrested by marshals working with ICE.

    "They said that they had detained a cannibal and put him on a plane to take him home, and while they had him in his seat, he started to eat himself," she said.

    "These are the kind of deranged individuals that are on our streets in America that we're trying to target and get out of our country."


    ABC




    © 2025 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

     Other International News
     05 Jul: Tibetans find hope — and uncertainty — as the Dalai Lama turns 90
     05 Jul: Witnesses to 1998 riots in Indonesia speak out after minister questions mass rape history
     04 Jul: Türkiye's Zeynep Sönmez creates history by advancing to Wimbledon third round
     04 Jul: Disaster prediction in manga comic book The Future I Saw blamed for fall in tourists to Japan
     04 Jul: F1 British Grand Prix: When does the race start and how to follow?
     04 Jul: Indonesia to sign $52.3b trade pact with US in effort to avoid higher tariffs
     04 Jul: Diogo Jota crash investigators probe whether speed, burst tyre was factor in Liverpool star's death
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Former All Blacks lock Ian Jones is miffed a depleted French team will face New Zealand in Dunedin tonight More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    The Toyota's RAV4's held it's top spot as the favourite passenger car - in a standout month for vehicle sales More...



     Today's News

    Netball:
    The Central Pulse will be without two key midcourters for this afternoon's ANZ Premiership netball clash with the Northern Stars in Wellington 15:37

    Entertainment:
    Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's latest venture is all about "celebration" 15:36

    Soccer:
    England football side Chelsea are on course for the men's FIFA Club World Cup final 15:27

    Entertainment:
    Punk band Bob Vylan claim they're "being targeted for speaking up" following mounting backlash over controversial Glastonbury performance 15:06

    Auckland:
    A person's been treated for minor injuries, after a car went off a cliff in Auckland's Maraetai 14:57

    Entertainment:
    Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been accused of a new instance of sexual assault 14:36

    Environment:
    The wet weather's on its way out - but it's taking its time in some parts of the country 14:07

    Motoring:
    Kiwi driver Liam Lawson is trying to keep a lid on his expectations heading into tomorrow morning's qualifying for the British Formula One Grand Prix  14:07

    International:
    Tibetans find hope — and uncertainty — as the Dalai Lama turns 90 14:07

    Health & Safety:
    A new 12.7 million dollar investment in two new CT scanners, is expected to improve diagnostic services across Palmerston North 14:07


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd