History repeats itself: From internment to Alligator Alcatraz | America’s long history of controversial detentional facilities

Habeas corpus protections make it illegal in the United States to detain a person without just cause. However, over the course of the country’s nearly 250-year history, these rights have at times been denied. Currently, the Trump administration is seeking to limit these legal protections for immigrants as a way to expedite the deportation of individuals they claim are in the country without proper documentation.

While many may believe that mass deportation efforts—widely and publicly broadcast through ICE raids at schools, workplaces, and places of worship—have increased, the Trump administration has deported only slightly more immigrants in its first six months than President Biden did during the same period the previous year. The Globalist’s analysis of separation records across administrations found that since February, the Trump administration has averaged 14,700 per month (a number only slightly higher than under President Biden), far short of the more than 30,000 per month made by the Obama White House.

Immigration rights advocates warn that the White House’s current practices are both cruel and ineffective. At present, more than 50,000 migrants are being held in ICE detention centers, which are operating near or beyond their intended capacity of 41,000. Many detainees report deplorable conditions, including a lack of food and water, poor sanitation, and restricted access to both legal counsel and family contact. Following the passage of President Trump’s signature legislation, funding has been allocated to increase capacity to 100,000 individuals across these facilities.

Advocates warn of deplorable conditions faced by detainees

One of the most recent additions to ICE’s network of detention facilities is known as Alligator Alcatraz, a name inspired by the infamous prison in San Francisco Bay. This makeshift facility is located in the Florida Everglades, near a nearby airport intended to enable swift deportations. Late last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claimed that deportation flights had begun. However, his office later clarified that many detainees were instead transferred to other detention centers within the United States.

Many detainees report deplorable conditions, including a lack of food and water, poor sanitation, and restricted access to both legal counsel and family contact. The detention center is designed to house up to 3,000 people, according to Governor DeSantis at its opening. Although the facility is projected to cost approximately $450 million annually to operate, it has been described as a “tent city,” reflecting the speed and simplicity of its construction. Videos circulating online show chain-link fences forming makeshift rooms packed with bunk beds, resembling a warehouse.

Democratic lawmakers who have visited the facility have described the conditions as akin to a “concentration camp,” and reports from inside are deeply troubling. The Guardian reported last week that advocates for detainees are hearing alarming accounts of overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and rushed plumbing jobs that have caused some cages to become “flooded with feces.” Food rations are reportedly minimal, and maintaining personal hygiene is nearly impossible due to low water pressure and constant mosquito bites during attempts to bathe.

Lessons go unlearned...

The reports from ICE detention are jaw-dropping, and though the Trump administration has rebuked the allegations, they are the latest example of mass internment undertaken by the U.S. government.

In history class, you may have learned about the internment of Japanese Americans—roughly two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens—following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. While the loyalty of German Americans was largely unquestioned, Japanese Americans were not afforded the same presumption of allegiance. Between February 1942 and March 1946, around 120,000 people were interned in 10 camps across seven states.

When the war ended, the victims of internment were not compensated, and many had lost the vast majority of their belongings, as they were not allowed to bring much with them into the camps. Many returned to find their homes robbed or vandalized. It would take decades before the U.S. federal government formally acknowledged its wrongdoing. In 1976, after years of campaigning by younger generations of Japanese Americans, the “Redress Movement” gained an ally in the White House. President Gerald Ford issued a proclamation admitting that internment had been “wrong” and should be remembered as a “national mistake” that “shall never again be repeated.”

“We now know what we should have known then—not only was that evacuation wrong, but Japanese Americans were and are loyal Americans,” the proclamation stated, formally revoking the executive order that had authorized internment during World War II.

Guantánamo Bay continues to operate

Though President Obama campaigned on shutting down Guantánamo Bay and relocating the remaining prisoners, the facility remained open throughout his presidency. Located in Cuba and controlled by the U.S. military, Guantánamo Bay became notorious as a black site where suspected enemy combatants were incarcerated—often without formal charges—and, in some cases, subjected to torture.

Detainees held at Guantánamo were denied access to legal counsel and the protections typically afforded under U.S. and international law. Many were imprisoned for years without trial, based on classified evidence or vague suspicions. The facility became a symbol of post-9/11 counterterrorism policies that critics argue undermined civil liberties and human rights.

Despite efforts to reduce the detainee population and transfer prisoners to other countries, political opposition and legal hurdles prevented the full closure of Guantánamo Bay. As of today, the facility remains open, though with a significantly reduced number of detainees.

Under the Trump administration, Guantánamo took on a new role: housing undocumented migrants. Although President Trump announced plans to detain up to 30,000 migrants at the site, reporting from NPR revealed that by late June, only about 500 migrants had been sent there. The facility, located on a remote U.S. naval base in Cuba, was never equipped to handle such large numbers.

At any given time, it can accommodate only around 200 individuals. The cost of this operation has drawn sharp criticism. According to congressional reports, the average daily cost of detaining a migrant at Guantánamo is approximately $100,000, compared to just $165 per day at a standard ICE facility in the U.S.

Despite the construction of hundreds of tents to expand capacity, many remain unused. Lawmakers have called the effort a wasteful and politically motivated stunt, with Democratic Senator Gary Peters describing it as “outrageous” and “ripe for oversight.”

Much of the expense stems from the use of military personnel, charter flights costing up to $27,000 per hour, and the logistical challenges of operating in an isolated location that must import all supplies and services.

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