Florida, a security fence, and a sign that says alligator alcatraz

Molly Butler / Media Matters

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Right-wing media claimed the “worst of the worst” would be housed at Florida's new immigrant detention center. Hundreds of detainees have no criminal record.

Written by Gideon Taaffe & Torri Lonergan

Research contributions from Sage Hodil, Helena Hind, Isabella Corrao, Noah Dowe & Jack Wheatley

Published

Right-wing media have heralded the Trump administration’s “Alligator Alcatraz” as a detention center for “pedophiles” and “drug traffickers,” but new reporting shows over 250 detainees have no criminal charges. 

Contrary to right-wing media’s narrative about the detention center, detainees include asylum-seekers and people who have been held over minor infractions like traffic violations — despite insistence from right-wing media figures that the harsh camp would be reserved for “the worst of the worst” and the “baddest of the bad hombres,” with one calling the detainees “subhuman.”

The detention camp is located in the Florida Everglades, reportedly surrounded by alligators and other dangerous animals. Seizing on this fact, figures in right-wing media have flippantly remarked about “feeding illegals to the gators” and referred to detainees as “fresh meat.” 

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  • Contrary to officials’ claims, Florida’s new detention center is filled with migrants who have no criminal background

    • On July 1, President Donald Trump toured “Alligator Alcatraz” alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and joked about the detention center’s location in a predator-filled swamp. According to CNN, Trump claimed, “We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator, OK? If they escape prison, how to run away. Don’t run in a straight line. … Your chances go up about 1%.” [CNN, 7/1/25]
    • Detainees at the facility have already been sounding the alarm on unsafe conditions and human rights abuses. According to The Associated Press, “People held there say worms turn up in the food. Toilets don’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere.” [The Associated Press, 7/11/25]
    • Hundreds of migrants in the detention facility have no criminal charges, even though officials have characterized it as a place housing “vicious” and “deranged psychopaths." According to the Miami Herald, “Mixed among the detainees accused and convicted of crimes are more than 250 people who are listed as having only immigration violations but no criminal convictions or pending charges in the United States.” [The Miami Herald, 7/13/25]
    • The Miami Herald also reported that only a third of detainees at the facility have criminal convictions, including for non-violent crimes like illegal re-entry or traffic violations. One detainee is an asylum-seeker who was sent to the facility after a car he was a passenger in was pulled over for an “unsecured load.” [The Miami Herald, 7/13/25]
    • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s own statistics reveal that, as of June 29, 72% of people detained nationally had no criminal convictions. The CATO institute further reported that between October 1, 2024, and June 14, “93 percent of ICE book-ins were never convicted of any violent offenses. About nine in ten had no convictions for violent or property offenses. Most convictions (53 percent) fell into three main categories: immigration, traffic, or nonviolent vice crimes.” [Forbes, 7/12/25; CATO Institute, 6/20/25]
    • Right-wing media have repeatedly tried to justify the Trump administration’s draconian immigration moves by claiming that only criminals and “the worst of the worst” would be impacted. This follows Trump’s own language that his administration would go after the “worst of the worst” first. [Media Matters, 11/18/24, 4/9/25; The Associated Press, 7/12/25]

  • Right-wing media claimed only the “worst of the worst” would be detained at the Florida detention camp

    • Fox News host Sean Hannity called the facility “a detention camp for the worst of the worst illegal immigrants.” [Fox News, Hannity, 7/1/25]
    • Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner repeatedly framed the facility as a detention center for “the worst of the worst." Faulkner stated that the detention center “can house up to 5,000 of the worst of the worst illegal aliens.” Later in the broadcast, Faulkner doubled down, again describing the site as one for “the worst of the worst illegal immigrants." [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 7/1/25, 7/1/25]
    • Fox News contributor Kellyanne Conway said Florida is an example of the “states saying we’re going to help accommodate the deportation, the processing, the paperwork of the ‘worst of the worst,’ as you say — criminals” adding, “These are criminals. And I wish the Democrats to start focusing on the word criminal.” Conway also praised Trump for being “so forward facing, transparent, factual, informative about what this is and who it’s about." [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 7/1/25]
    • Fox News host Charlie Hurt said the facility would be used to house the “baddest of the bad hombres.” Hurt stated, “The gator guards will be patrolling the everglades while keeping the baddest of the bad hombres at bay." [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 7/1/25]
    • Right-wing podcaster and Trump ally Laura Loomer criticized those opposed to the facility, asking, “Do they want illegal alien rapists? This is supposed to house the worst of the worst, right? These are the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens." [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 7/1/25]
    • Newsmax host Marc Lotter called the facility a “detention center for the worst of the worst illegals.” [Newsmax, Wake Up America, 7/2/25]
    • Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said the facility is “a detention center for the worst of the worst illegals in this country." [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 7/1/25]
    • Fox host Jesse Watters said the detainees “are drug traffickers and child rapists." [Fox News, The Five, 7/10/25]
    • On The Benny Show, QAnon conspiracy theorist Liz Crokin suggested that “pedophiles” and “sex traffickers” working for people like Diddy and Jeffrey Epstein were being sent to the detention center. Host Benny Johnson cited literature on sex crimes at the prison to claim, “That is what they’re targeting here." [YouTube, The Benny Show, 7/2/25; CNN, 12/7/22]

  • Right-wing media have been making remarks about migrants getting eaten by alligators

    • Laura Loomer called migrants “animals” and said, “I think it's actually a really good thing that we're putting illegal aliens in cages and we're letting them know, hey, you're going to be eaten by alligators." Loomer then apologized for the comparison to animals, saying, “I apologize to the innocent animals who I’m comparing to these savage, subhuman illegal aliens.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 7/1/25]
    • Loomer also tweeted, “Feeding illegals to the gators. We need more of this energy.” [Twitter/X, 6/30/25]
    • Newsmax host Rob Finnerty said the only environmental impact of the prison would be “maybe more food for those alligators.” Finnerty said, “Nobody is ever going to escape from this prison and live to tell the tale,” even suggesting to migrants, “If you don’t want to get eaten by an alligator, don't try to escape.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 7/1/25]
    • Conspiracy theorist and right-wing influencer Dom Lucre referred to immigrants as “fresh meat” for the “massive, probably like 15-foot-long gators” he saw during his tour of the area. Lucre also remarked, “Those gators, they definitely look like they're ready for some action." [OAN, Real America with Dan Ball, 7/1/25; Media Matters, 11/12/24]
    • Charlie Hurt bragged that “the ICE gators are officially on patrol,” policing the “bad hombres” at Trump’s “gator gulag." [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 7/2/25]
    • Jesse Watters praised the facility, saying, “What's more of a deterrent than getting eaten by an alligator?” Watters said, “Alligator Alcatraz is a genius idea. And there’s nothing anti-immigrant about it. I support putting American prisoners in a swamp surrounded by gators.” [Fox News, The Five, 6/24/25]
    • Watters later remarked about anti-ICE protesters being eaten by alligators, saying, “Hopefully there's no visitors from some of these people over the weekend with these gators. Chomp, chomp." Watters asked, “Is ICE being too nice? You see some video — I mean they’re doing, like, I guess de-escalation tactics, which probably is the right move. But the more you tangle with these crazy people, the more it gives them confidence. And, if you don't make arrests and knock some heads together and show them that you may get hurt when you come in and block law enforcement, they are just going to get more and more angry.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 7/10/25]