President Donald Trump's newly established detention center in Everglades, Florida, nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz," was underwater after a summer rainstorm swept through just hours after his visit.
Trump attended the opening of the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center on Tuesday, alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ordered the facility's construction, and several other Trump administration officials.
However, after Trump and his officials departed, the center was flooded during a strong summer rainstorm.
"A good lil storm passed over us here at 'Alligator Alcatraz,'" USA Today reporter Jason Delgado wrote in an X post Tuesday, accompanied by a video. "Here's what it looks & sounds like inside one of these tents," he added. The footage showed DeSantis speaking with media personnel as heavy rain and wind echoed in the background.
Delgado noted that the structures were reportedly designed to withstand a Category 2 hurricane, with winds reaching up to 120 mph.
A good lil storm passed over us here at 'Alligator Alcatraz.’
— Jason Delgado (@JasonDelgadoX) July 1, 2025
Here's what it looks & sounds like inside one of these tents.
The state says the sites here are rated to withstand a category two hurricane (~120mph winds). pic.twitter.com/6SyY1hAvkK
The new facility, which "will have up to 5,000 beds to house, process, and deport criminal illegal aliens," according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, has sparked fierce criticism. Some have compared it to Nazi concentration camps, with critics calling the U.S. and the Trump administration "barbaric" for constructing such a site.
There are now six ICE detention facilities across the state. The other five, including the controversial Krom Detention Center, have faced condemnation for mistreating detainees.
Since the start of Trump's second term, at least 12 detainees have died in custody, two of which were suicides. Additionally, 470 complaints have been filed, with the most common issues involving denial of medical care, unsanitary conditions, and harassment, intimidation, and bullying, according to a database maintained by ACLU Florida.
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