'DeSantis lied’: Key claim behind 'Alligator Alcatraz' just collapsed

When Florida Republicans unveiled a makeshift detention camp site for migrants in the Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz," they characterized it as a facility for hardened criminals who needed to be deported in the interest of public safety.

But a new Washington Post report reveals quite the opposite — that Florida officials are relying in large part on minor traffic stops to find immigrants to throw in the facility.

"We spent 6 hours with Florida Highway Patrol and got an inside look at how they're encountering illegal immigrants at traffic stops and turning them over to Border Patrol and ICE, where they're sent to ‘Alligator Alcatraz,' under DeSantis," wrote Washington Post DHS reporter Anna Giaritelli in a lengthy thread posted to X. What they found, she said, is that "Since March, FL Highway Patrol has turned over 3,300 illegal immigrants found at traffic stops to the feds" — and many were stopped for very low-level reasons.

This is a new practice, as in the past, Florida state troopers couldn't hand over people from traffic stops to federal agents.

Among those who were rounded up in such arrests were "2 illegal immigrants and a 15 y/o who said he had come over the southern border and his family was in Guatemala. Cause of traffic stop was cutting across 3 lanes of traffic, no seat belt," she wrote. Others were stopped for texting and driving, or for not wearing a seat belt, and found to be operating without a license.

And in another case, she wrote, "A large truck delivering plants was pulled over for what the officer suspected was too dark a tint. That showed not to be the case, but while stopped, the 3 men in the backseat disobeyed orders to stay inside so the officer detained them, then asked for ID. That's when their lack of immigration status came out."

"This thread makes clear how much Gov. Desantis lied about about 'Alligator Alcatraz' being for 'the worst of the worst,'" wrote American Immigration Council fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. "Florida Highway Patrol is doing clearly pretextual arrests (window tints, seat belts) and sending every undocumented immigrant they stop to the camp. For example, the claim that Florida Highway Patrol is stopping landscaping trucks for alleged traffic violations is classic Driving While Black/Driving While Brown pretext."

"Alligator Alcatraz" has come under fire for brutal conditions, including inconsistent air conditioning, infestations of "bugs the size of hands," and flooding during storms, even though state officials have insisted the facility is "hurricane-proof."