An NBC reporter is seemingly concerned that illegal aliens will get injured by the surrounding wildlife if they try to escape the illegal immigrant detention facility dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, which is set in the Florida Everglades.
NBC homeland security correspondent Julia Ainsley made the remark during a Wednesday appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe — the day after President Donald Trump visited the facility upon its grand opening.
She said the facility was originally a joke that became a reality.
“Well, in the first Trump administration… this was a joke. In fact, in the book Border Wars by Michael Shear, they write about how Trump wanted a moat and around a detention center, and he wanted to use the Rio Grande. They wanted alligators to be able to keep people from crossing into Texas,” Ainsley said.
“In this case, it’s actually a reality,” she said, asserting that “it almost started as a joke, but now it’s this deterrent and it’s really a place where these people could be.
“And you know, when Gabe walked through there, that was soft-sided facilities. So not brick and mortar buildings. It’s clearly intentionally being put there,” she said adding, that it is “a symbolic form of deterrence, but possibly a real one too if there were really injuries to people.”
Ainsley continued, “ICE is not supposed to be punitive. Immigration detention is not supposed to be punitive.”
“ICE detention is for the purpose of detaining immigrants before they are deported or while their immigration proceedings are still going on,” she said, adding, “But it is not supposed to be like you were sentenced to time in jail, like what you would have done if you had committed a crime and been sent to a Bureau of Prisons facility. And so they’re now deviating from that.”
Officials have repeated time and time again that illegal aliens do not have to go to facilities such as Alligator Alcatraz if they self-deport. In fact, Gov. Ron DeSantis pointed out that illegals are given the option to self-deport during intake at the new facility.
“So right when you do the intake, they have the information about voluntary departure. They have the ability, obviously, you guys are funding that, because it’s a lot cheaper to do it that way,” DeSantis said during the tour of the facility on Tuesday.
“So, even if they get brought to the front doorstep here, they still have an opportunity to just go back voluntarily,” he added
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also emphasized that key message.
“If they self-deport and go home, they can come back legally. We will let them come back,” she told reporters.
“If you wait and we bring you to this facility, you don’t ever get to come back to America. You don’t get the chance to come back and be an American again,” she warned.
RELATED — Self-Deport, or Go to Alligator Alcatraz!
Despite misinformation spread by the left, the facility has 24/7 air conditioning, a medical facility and pharmacy, as well as indoor and outdoor rec yards, legal and clergy support services, and more.
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