Videos and satellite imagery show how quickly Donald Trump’s detention centre in Florida has been constructed – as experts suggest the design of the site is flawed and will compromise the safety of people being held there.
Sky News’ Data and Forensics team has verified footage posted on social media that shows water covering the ground near electricity cables during a storm as the first detainees were due to arrive.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), run by Governor Ron DeSantis, posted on X that detainees were at the site on 3 July just before 1pm local time (6pm UK time).
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Donald Trump held a tour of the facility on 1 July that took journalists around “Alligator Alcatraz”. Its name is a reference to both the local reptile population and the former maximum-security Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, California.
The tour showed the rapid construction of the centre, designed to accommodate up to 3,000 detainees. The purpose of the site is to house individuals detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
James Uthmeier, Florida’s attorney general, posted on X: “And in just a week, Alligator Alcatraz was built.”
Political commentator Benny Johnson, who was on the tour, praised the eight-day turnaround. “I don’t think anyone realises how impressive Alligator Alcatraz is,” he said.
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Amid those positive comments, videos emerged highlighting flooding in the centre, with electricity cables covered with water on the day of the tour.
The flooding was said to have been caused by a small storm. However, the state department claims the structures and tents can withstand category two hurricanes, reaching 110mph winds.
FDEM spokesperson Stephanie Hartman wrote in a statement that “vendors had tightened any seams at the base of the structures that allowed water to come in during the storm”. She described the water intrusion as minimal.
Steff Gaulter, a Sky News meteorologist, said: “In the last 10 years, we’ve seen 13 hurricanes that have hit Florida. Seven of them have been category three or higher.
“As well as needing to know how strong these storms are as they come, it’s also very unpredictable, their track can change at the last minute.”
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) have said structures in risk category two – which Alligator Alcatraz falls under – need to withstand 121mph wind gusts.
If the housing tents exceed 300 occupants per tent, the guidelines go up to 167mph.
Ms Gaulter explained: “You don’t necessarily need a hurricane in order to see a gust of wind over 100mph. In the lowest category of hurricane, category one, the range of winds would be between 74mph and 95mph. But even in that category, you can easily get a gust of wind up to 120mph.”
Dr Patrick McSharry, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and former head of catastrophe risk financing at Oxford University, told Sky News that in a hurricane “there’s no way that a tent is going to be in any way something that you would advise someone to be in”.
“It’s more the case of having a plan in place that can be mobilised really fast to get people out of that dangerous situation.”
The site is also located in a hurricane-prone region as defined by ASCE.
Discussing building regulations, Dr McSharry said: “We’re dealing here potentially with human lives so it’s an even more sensitive calculation I think that needs to be made.”
Image: The blue pin marks Alligator Alcatraz. The key shows average wind speeds. Credit: ASCE.
Sky News put these concerns to Ron DeSantis and the Florida state department, but did not receive responses.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Sky News: “Alligator Alcatraz is a state-of-the-art facility that will play a critical role in fulfilling the president’s promise to get the worst criminal illegal aliens out of America as fast as possible.
“President Trump is grateful to partner with [Homeland] Secretary [Kristi] Noem and Ron DeSantis on this important project.”
Satellite imagery obtained by Sky News shows the rapid construction of the centre, which was formerly Dade-Collier Training Airport.
Five days after the centre was announced by Florida’s attorney general James Uthmeier, more than 60 new trailers can be seen on the right-hand side of the runway.
Satellite imagery obtained by Sky News also shows that from 24 June to the opening date on 1 July, more than seven large housing tents were put up at the site.
Image: Satellite imagery showing the site on 24 June. Credit: Maxar
Image: An aerial photo of the site on 1 July. Credit: AP
The site is reportedly set to open with 3,000 beds, expanding to 5,000 by early July.  
It is also reported that the site will cost an estimated $450m (£330m) per year to operate, with a bed costing $245 (£180) per day.
The bill is reported to be covered by the state of Florida, which plans to get money back from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Tessa Petit, director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, told Sky News: “It was constructed too [quickly]. This is a sign that we’re seeing a disaster [waiting to] happen as we look at it.
“Usual detention centres come up with, you know, their bricks and mortar, right? This is not bricks and mortar. This is just tents and mobile homes that are assembled on an airstrip.”
“There’s a detention of immigrants in a place that has been in the past ravaged by hurricanes and we’re getting into hurricane season,” Ms Petit added.
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She is concerned that medical support and sanitary provisions, like a sewage system, will not have been properly installed.
“You can’t build a sewage system that can sustain 3,000 people in eight days. You can’t dig in the Everglades. So, what are going be the additional sanitary conditions?” she said.
There are also sustainability concerns about the site.
The Centre for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit in US District Court to protect the Florida Everglades. They state it is “a reckless plan to build a massive detention centre for people caught in immigration raids”.
Tania Galloni, an attorney working with the Centre for Biological Diversity, stated the proposed plan “has not undergone the environmental review required by federal law, and the public has had no chance to provide feedback”.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.
The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.
Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.
Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.
In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.
“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”
In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.
Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.
“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.
“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”
Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.
He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”
Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.
The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.
The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.
In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.
However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.
As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.
Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.
Donald Trump has said he plans to hit Canada with a 35% tariff on imported goods, as he warned of a blanket 15 or 20% hike for most other countries.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the US president wrote: “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”
Mr Trump’s tariffs were allegedly an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling, and the US president has expressed frustration with Canada’s trade deficit with the US.
In a statement Mr Carney said: “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
He added: “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
The higher rates would go into effect on 1 August.
Shortly after Mr Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April, there was a huge sell-off on the financial markets. The US president later announced a 90-day negotiating period, during which a 10% baseline tariff would be charged on most imported goods.
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“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
He added: “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today.”
The US and UK signed a trade deal in June, with the US president calling it “a fair deal for both” and saying it will “produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income”.
Sir Keir Starmer said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
It comes as Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said a new round of talks between Moscow and Washington on bilateral problems could take place before the end of the summer.
A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a claim against the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he said was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil said he was not presented with an arrest warrant and wasn’t told where he was being taken.
He said the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it declared were “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil said after around 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to speak to his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he said.
Mr Khalil said administration officials had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as involved in antisemitic activities and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he said. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson said its actions toward Mr Khalil were fully supported by the law.
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Asked about missing the birth of his son while he was in prison, Mr Khalil said: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
Meanwhile, the deportation case against Mr Khalil is continuing to wind its way through the immigration court system.