Camp Cruelty

“What distinguishes a concentration camp from a prison (in the modern sense) is that it functions outside of a judicial system. The prisoners are not indicted or convicted of any crime by judicial process.” – from the U.S. Holocaust Museum

It’s an area of the Florida Everglades known for deadly snakes, alligators, extreme heat, mosquitos, and no way out. The Trump administration decided it’s just perfect for a “detention center” for all those scary brown people he wants to rid us of. In just a few weeks, they’ve rigged steel cages surrounded by tents that barely stand up to high winds. A mild rainstorm passed through right after opening creating low-level flooding – and at this writing, it’s not even hurricane season.

The metal beds are hard and there are few sanitation facilities. Based on reports from detainees at other ICE facilities, there’s little water or food, and when it does appear, it contains maggots. Trump proudly calls it “Alligator Alcatraz.”

In truth, it’s closer to Alligator Auschwitz.

Trump diverted $450 million from FEMA to quickly build this ramshackle facility (which begs the question, who’s REALLY getting that money?). And he’s publicly stated that he wants more of these camps set up around the country. The recent budget bill has an enormous amount of money that’s been marked for ICE; that line item is now bigger than the budget for the entire FBI or the military budget of Israel.

But what’s clear is that there are nowhere enough “criminals” and “gang members” to justify these numbers. So now, we have increasing amounts footage of random immigrants being grabbed off the streets, tazed in a Walmart, even snatched during a doctor’s appointment. Hey, those centers won’t fill themselves.

These poor people aren’t getting any kind of due process. We don’t even know who is grabbing them before they’re stuffed into vans and taken away. The goons wear masks, but no badges or other identifiers. They just roll up in tactical gear and start “hunting.”

As a refresher, this is exactly how the Gestapo operated (‘cept they showed their faces; how bad is it when ICE agents are worse than Nazis?).

Perhaps one of the most disturbing things about the camp in the Everglades is that there is merchandise; actual “Alligator Alcatraz” hats. MAGA influencer Benny Johnson posted video of himself wearing one. Trump has always been about “spectacle” so the fact that merch is part of the torturing of human beings is no surprise. The Romans distracted citizen by feeding people to the lions; now, it’s ‘gators.

But merch showing support for this cruelty is a whole new twist on “the banality of evil.”  It’s akin to taking a tour of Dachau and being asked to “exit through the gift shop.”

Cindy Grogan is a writer, lover of history and "Star Trek" (TOS), and hardcore politics junkie. There was that one time she campaigned for Gerald Ford (yikes), but ever since, she's been devoted to Democratic and progressive policies.