At the end of June 2025, a photograph of an allegedly recently built facility for illegal migrants in the United States, a complex of buildings surrounded by a moat with alligators, in the middle of a forest, spread across the Internet. We have verified the authenticity of this photo.
On June 29, Telegram channels published news about the opening of a new temporary detention center for illegal migrants in the United States and accompanied these posts with a photograph of this building. The photo shows four large buildings located in the middle of a forest and surrounded by a moat, in which, if you look closely, you can see alligators swimming. It is clarified that they were sent there specifically to ensure the security of the institution. Some users posted a video - in it, accompanied by music, the photo of the center is gradually replaced by footage of reservoirs teeming with these reptiles.
A photograph or video in which it was used was published by Telegram channels “Ax Live"(766,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Sanya in Florida"(513,000), "Insider UA"(429,000), "Dmitry Nicotin"(338,000), "The goat screamed"(328,000), "KB"(244,000), etc.
The fight against illegal migration was one of the key Donald Trump's election promises. After his election, the president in the United States significantly tightened migration legislation - in particular, sharply have become more frequent raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). During these raids, thousands of people were detained whose presence in the country was considered illegal or dangerous. Actions of the authorities called protests in Los Angeles, which subsequently spread to other major US cities.
To accommodate detained migrants, temporary detention centers have begun to be built in different states. June 19 Florida Attorney General James Utmyer posted on his page in the X video, in which he announced plans to build a camp under the unofficial name "Alligator Alcatraz", referring to the famous prison in San Francisco. June 24 information confirmed at the US Department of Homeland Security, and a week later for the opening of a new center profits Trump and department head Kristi Noem. It was the news about the upcoming opening that spread across Telegram channels and social networks along with the supposed photo of the camp.
Although the opening of the center was widely covered by the American media, not a single large and authoritative publication posted the photo, which was distributed across Russian-language Telegram channels. The drone footage published by journalists is very different from the viral image. It does not coincide with the set photos from the inside: they show rows of two-tier tents surrounded by mesh walls.
Media reports that the new temporary detention complex located near the unfinished Dade-Collier Airport runway, which until then had been primarily used as a training runway. The camp itself consists of converted trailers, which is also clearly visible in photos and videos in media reports, rather than four separate buildings, as in the viral image.
Reports of a wide ditch surrounding the migration center also raise doubts. On the one hand, the name “Alligator Alcatraz” was not chosen by chance - words Utmaier, the swampy area around is infested with alligators and pythons, which will save on securing the camp around the perimeter. After visiting the Trump migration center statedthat detainees who want to escape will have to learn how to run away from an alligator. However, authoritative sources do not say that a ditch was specially dug around the camp and reptiles were released into it. The artificial reservoir is not visible in American media reports either. Finally, the area from the viral photo does not match the satellite images.
The viral image itself also looks strange. The photo does not show any roads leading to the center, and the animals swimming in the water are too large for alligators. In addition, the lighting and trees surrounding the buildings look unnatural. All this may indicate that the photo was generated by a neural network. The Hive Moderation service for identifying such content estimated the probability that the photo was created by AI at 99.9%.
For the first time, this image with the caption that this is what the “Alligator Alcatraz” looks like appeared on the social network X. The earliest post that “Verified” could be found was posted on the @NickAdamsinUSA page on June 28 at 03:00 Moscow time, this publication now has more than 4 million views. The user accompanied the picture with the words “Alligator Alcatraz looks beautiful,” without specifying that it was generated by a neural network. Since the camp had not yet been opened, the author of the publication probably only guessed what it would look like. However, the photo was widely circulated, and other users posted it even after dozens of reports from the migrant detention camp appeared.
As for the video, it is also the first time appeared on social network X - a little later than the generated photo. User @dom_lucre published it on June 29 at 01:19 Moscow time. It was he who first reported that the moat around the new Alcatraz was filled with alligators for all illegal migrants who dared to escape. This post has been viewed 4.6 million times.
Thus, although Florida actually opened a temporary detention center for migrants, and its “advertising” constantly mentioned alligators, a photo of the camp that went viral on Telegram channels was generated using AI.
Cover photo: social networks
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