But data and news reports about the first month’s arrivals show the majority of Alligator Alcatraz’s detainees do not have U.S. criminal convictions.  President Donald Trump, federal officials and Florida Republicans touted the remote Everglades immigration detention centers — dubbed Alligator Alcatraz — as a place to detain people deemed the "worst of the worst.

Editor's note: The little-used airstrip in the Everglades that the state is using to build a detention center for immigrants, dubbed " Alligator Alcatraz ," is part of a storied history involving Palm Beach County at one point.

Trump administration officials want "Alligator Alcatraz" to be a blueprint, but Democrats are pushing back on expansion.

This facility’s purpose fits the classic model, and its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country.

Some people detained at the facility have violent criminal histories. But data and news reports about the first month’s arrivals show the majority of Alligator Alcatraz’s detainees do not have U.S. criminal convictions.

Without permanent structures, electricity or running water, logistical headaches have emerged at “Alligator Alcatraz.”

In the depths of the Florida Everglades, a place teeming with mosquitoes, swamps, and predatory reptiles, the U.S. government has endorsed what many human rights activists now call the Alligator Alcatraz—a sprawling 39-square-mile detention facility for immigrants surrounded not only by steel fences,