Is the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Hype in Bad Taste?

Brad Polumbo Xweeted out something that struck a chord with me, and I was forced to think through my conflicting thoughts about Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Alligator Alcatraz” and all the hype around it. 

There’s just something gross about this. These are public policy issues with human life at stake. They should be handled with more seriousness than this, even if you support the efforts. https://t.co/sAppgkatmQ

— Brad Polumbo 🇺🇸⚽️ (@brad_polumbo) July 1, 2025

I agree that there is something in bad taste about crowing that you are going to be tossing people into a barbed-wire encampment like that, even if you support the policies that make it necessary. 

There are many reasons why the flood of illegal immigrants into the country turned into a man-made disaster, and Trump is right that we have to work mightily to deport a substantial fraction of the ten million+ illegals who flowed in over the past four years, plus many more if we can do so. 

.@POTUS: With the help of those incredible Border Patrol agents, we now have the lowest level of daily border crossings ever recorded… Last month, the number of illegal aliens into the United States was zero… But there’s still much work to do. pic.twitter.com/EjqCBLmaiy

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 1, 2025

There are the obvious problems of crime, the explosion in welfare expenses, the housing crunch, and, of course, the devaluation of labor due to an unnatural increase in supply. 

Then there is the breaking of the social contract: people voted to limit the number of immigrants per year, and the federal government, through Biden and Mayorkas, intentionally violated the law and overrode the will of the voters time and again. Trump won twice on the issue of deporting illegal immigrants. 

.@POTUS: “The average illegal alien costs American taxpayers an estimated $70,000… if you care about balancing the budget, the single most impactful step we can take is to fully reverse the Biden migration invasion… that’s why the One Big Beautiful Bill includes funding for… pic.twitter.com/DGMurcOHYn

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 1, 2025

Of course, many illegals are violent criminals, and nobody cares if you toss them into a swamp before you kick them out the door. But then again, many of the people who will flow through the Alligator Alcatraz are not predators, but rather people whom Biden stupidly invited in. We want them gone, of course, but many people are uneasy about the process by which we achieve that goal. 

This looks excessively cruel. Isn’t it possible to achieve our goal more humanely? And if so, what is the point? 

.@Sec_Noem: “People don’t have to come here. If they self-deport and go home, they can come back legally.” @POTUS: “And there is a lot of self-deportation.”@Sec_Noem: “But if you wait and we bring you to this facility, you don’t ever get to come back to America.” pic.twitter.com/izpsXn0AYw

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 1, 2025

And here is where I get conflicted. The point is obvious, even if the reality is harsh. There are somewhere around 20 million or more illegal immigrants in America, and perhaps 30 million. Biden ushered in over 10 million in just four years. 

Not only is that a problem that needs solving, it’s one that is insoluble if you depend on ICE to pick them up one by one, give them a hearing, and deal with all the court challenges. According to some accounts, the cost of processing a deportee is nearly $20,000. Not deporting them will cost Americans tens of thousands of dollars more in entitlements. 

The problem is almost too big to grasp, yet grasp it we must. And we must solve that problem. 

It’s a monumental task, and it would be made much easier if illegal aliens decided to “self-deport.” The prospect of winding up in the “Alligator Alcatraz” is a great reason to do so. 

You can see the carrot and the stick. Leave on your own, and you get a $1000 and a chance to return legally. Fail to do so, and a nasty fate awaits you. 

Many of us who support deportations yet get queasy are only seeing the stick, and not the carrot. There really is no other way to speed up the process than getting the cooperation of the potential deportees. 

Trump’s threats of terrible consequences have already closed the border–sure, enforcement has made a difference, but most of the decline is due to deterrence. The same plan is at work here. 

So yes, the cruelty is the point, but the point is not being cruel to be cruel, but to make the choice between staying and going crystal clear. 

The goal is to make deportations eventually unnecessary–nobody wants to face the consequences of breaking the law in the first place, so the need for places like Alligator Alcatraz dissipates. 

Even knowing this, I can’t share in the glee.