Overview

• The temporary camp was erected in about a week on a former airstrip within Everglades National Park at an estimated annual cost of $450 million largely financed by Florida with federal backing.
• The White House projects capacity for 5,000 migrants while Florida officials cite just 1,000 beds, exposing federal-state discord over policy and budget priorities.
• Trump used his July 1 visit to spotlight the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping budget proposal that would fund more detention centers nationwide.
• Environmental and human-rights groups contend the site breaches park protections, imperils over 2,000 species and confines migrants in harsh, inhumane conditions.
• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has promoted alligators, pythons and panthers as cost-free deterrents to escape attempts, drawing safety and ethics criticisms.