The Florida Republican Party is cashing in on a controversial migrant detention site by selling gear branded with the name “Alligator Alcatraz,” just days before Donald Trump visits the facility.
Shirts are going for $30. Hats cost $27. Beverage coolers? $15. The merchandise hit the party’s online store ahead of Trump’s planned visit to the East Coast facility on Tuesday. He’ll be joined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Rep. Byron Donalds — the congressman Trump is backing for governor.
“We’re going out to Alligator Alcatraz. It’s an East Coast version,” Trump said Tuesday. “It should be very exciting, very good. We worked very hard on it with Ron and everybody and I think it’s going to be great.”
The facility, nicknamed after the infamous prison, holds hundreds of migrants in soft-sided tents. Florida’s Division of Emergency Management runs it. The federal government is footing the bill.
That bill? $450 million a year.
The money comes from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program — the same program used to house asylum-seekers under President Biden.
More units are expected to be added in the coming weeks.
