By Ted Hesson
(Reuters) -Florida began on Tuesday construction of a temporary migrant detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” due to its remote location in the Everglades, a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons.
Footage aired by a local NBC affiliate showed the start of construction on the site, which will feature large tents to house migrants and trailers for staff. The facility will have minimal security due to the natural barriers provided by the surrounding inhospitable marshy grasslands, a Florida official said last week.
U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has sought to ramp up the detention and deportation of migrants, saying it was needed after millions crossed the border illegally under Democrat Joe Biden.
The number of people in federal immigration detention has risen sharply from 39,000 when Trump took office to 56,000 as of June 15, according to U.S. government data, and the Trump administration has pushed to find more space.
The Florida facility, estimated to cost $450 million annually, could eventually house up to 5,000 people, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
In a video posted on social media last week, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said the site could hold up to an initial 1,000 people in 30-60 days.
ICE on average pays $165 per day for a detention bed, according to agency budget documents. If the Florida facility eventually has capacity for 5,000 people, the cost would be $247 per day.
DHS said it had set aside funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s shelter and services program to cover a “large part” of the cost of the detention center.
The shelter funds, normally used in case of major disasters, were used by the Biden administration to reimburse New York City and other cities for housing newly arrived migrants.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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