Former MSNBC host Joy Reid erupted this week after President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis toured a newly built immigration detention facility in the Everglades—labeling it a “concentration camp” for “rounding up brown people.”
On Tuesday, Reid accused DeSantis of constructing the facility to incarcerate Latinos, falsely implying that individuals would be indiscriminately targeted based on their race rather than immigration status.
“He took the comfy couch hosts on a tour of the concentration camp that he’s building in Florida in order to round up people—brown people—and throw them in a camp because he doesn’t want them in Florida,” the fired host fumed. “Anybody who is perceived or looks Latino is afraid to go to work.”
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The facility in question—nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” by both critics and supporters—was unveiled in a remote, swampy area near the old Dade-Collier Airport. Constructed in just eight days under emergency powers, the detention center has a capacity of 5,000 and is already holding around 3,000 detainees. Immigration judges are stationed on-site to fast-track deportation hearings within 48 hours.
Trump, who toured the facility Tuesday with DeSantis and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, hailed the project as a major milestone in restoring strong immigration enforcement. “If you don’t, you may end up here,” Noem explained. “And you may end up here and being processed, deported out of this country, and never get the chance to come back.” DeSantis added: “Why would you want to come through ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ if you can just go home on your own? I think a lot of people are going to make that decision.”
