WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The same week a Reuters/Ipsos poll found public approval of the Trump administration's immigration policy dropped to a second-term low of 41 percent, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was reportedly racing to erect migrant tent camps nationwide, aiming to expand detention capacity from 40,000 to 100,000 beds by year's end.
As the administration is on track to preside over one of the deadliest years for immigrant detention, ICE's sweeping raids not only widened an already serious partisan divide but also opened new fault lines within Republican ranks. Some administration officials and outside Republican allies warn that holding migrants long-term in flimsy structures -- especially in areas vulnerable to flooding or hurricanes -- could prove disastrous.
MORE "ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZS"
After receiving a new 45 billion U.S. dollars funding, tripling its annual budget, ICE is prioritizing large-scale tents, or "hardened soft-sided facilities," at military bases and ICE jails in states like Texas, Colorado, Indiana and New Jersey, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing internal documents.
Identifying limited detention space as "a major chokepoint" slowing deportations, Trump administration officials prefer this approach as it allows them to create large numbers of new beds concentrated in a few locations, rather than scattering smaller numbers of jail cells across the country, said the report.
It added that top officials at the Department of Homeland Security, including Secretary Kristi Noem, have expressed a preference for detention centers run by Republican-led states and local governments rather than private prison companies.
Earlier this month, Noem told the press that she was in talks with five Republican states to build detention sites inspired by the "Alligator Alcatraz" facility in Florida -- a remote migrant detention center located about 37 miles (60 km) from Miami, deep in the marshy wetlands infested with alligators, crocodiles and pythons.
"We've had several other states that are actually using Alligator Alcatraz as a model for how they can partner with us," said Noem, without naming any of the states, while The Wall Street Journal said West Virginia might create "a type of Alligator Alcatraz here in the Mountain State."
Describing Alligator Alcatraz as efficient, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said escape attempts are futile. "Clearly from a security perspective, if someone escapes, there's a lot of alligators you're going to have to contend (with)," he said. "No one is going anywhere once you do that. It's as safe and secure as you can be."
So far, the facility has faced intense criticism for human rights abuses, including overcrowding, poor sanitation and inadequate medical care.
Enzo Aspite, a Venezuelan detainee, told CBS News Miami that the detention center keeps them "in a cage like chickens."
"We bathe one day, yes, and three days no. The lights are never turned off. We have no place for recreation. The food is given at different times. Giving us medication is awful. There is no doctor to see you," Aspite said.
Florida officials denied these allegations, noting that the facility meets the standards required by law. "There is a 24/7, fully staffed medical facility with pharmacy on site and there is working air conditioning throughout the facility," a spokesperson from the Florida Division of Emergency Management said in a statement.
Previously, the agency also dismissed similar accusations of inhumane conditions made by Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura and other detainees, calling the allegations "completely false."
DROPPING APPROVAL RATES
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Wednesday, 41 percent of participants were supportive of the administration's immigration policy, down from 48 percent in January, marking the lowest level since U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the White House.
With an overall disapproval rate of 51 percent, half of the respondents also said they believe the administration has gone too far with arrests of suspected illegal immigrants at their workplaces.
Only 28 percent of them agreed with a statement that "immigration arrests at places of work are good for the country." While the majority of Democrats, 82 percent, opposed such arrests, 55 percent of Republicans supported them.
Such divergence is also seen in answers to other questions.
As only one-third of respondents supported the notion that arrests of immigrants should be carried out like military operations, 60 percent of Republicans agreed, whereas 90 percent of Democrats disagreed.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of the respondents said immigration enforcement officers should not wear masks while making arrests. Some 70 percent of Republicans backed masking, while the same share of Democrats opposed it.
ICE raids, often featuring masked officials, have been widely criticized for spreading "fear and panic across communities," provoking dozens of lawsuits.
On July 7, a coalition of 18 states, including California, backed a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of recent ICE raids in Los Angeles and urged a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order to halt the operations.
"The secretive approach taken by immigration agents as they conduct unlawful suspicionless stops has not only created a culture of fear, but has also needlessly impeded local law enforcement," said the filing. "Because their vehicles and uniforms are not clearly marked -- and their tactics can be highly aggressive -- the public cannot easily discern who is a federal law enforcement agent and who may be a criminal."
Incidents have been reported in several areas in Los Angeles, where masked men tried to impersonate federal immigration agents, stopping passengers and asking for their documents.
"Regular police officers operate every day with their faces uncovered and their badge numbers visible, and it's not considered unsafe for their identities to be available to people in the public," said Stuart Schrader, an associate professor of History at Johns Hopkins University.
"I think it's clear that agents are trying to create a certain spectacle of intimidation and lack of democratic control," he said. "By anonymizing themselves, they're indicating that they are not accountable to any sort of public."
RISING INTERNAL TENSIONS
Alongside the partisan divide, the poll results also reveal mounting tensions within the Republican Party.
Despite the 55 percent approval rate, 24 percent of the Republicans didn't believe immigration arrests at workplaces are good for the United States, 19 percent were unsure, and 1 percent declined to answer.
Similarly, 40 percent of them either disagreed with, were unsure about, or skipped the question of whether such arrests should be carried out like military operations.
Many Republicans have publicly pushed back against the Trump administration's immigration policy.
Republican Rep. David Valadao of California said on social platform X that while he condemned the "violence and vandalism" seen in Los Angeles, he was "concerned" about how the administration has been broadening its deportation efforts.
He said he urged the administration "to prioritize the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the Valley for years."
His view was echoed by Latino Republican leaders. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, also chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, told CNN in a recent interview that "We all need to focus on convicted, criminal illegal aliens ... If we focus there -- and we're not going after the guy milking cows in 103-degree weather, but going after the convicted criminal -- I think we're on the right path."
Meanwhile, fearing food shortages and economic calamity, some GOP lawmakers are reportedly pushing for immigration law changes to grant temporary legal status to certain agricultural workers and ensure they can remain on the job.
"The excuse that we've had from not taking steps to pass measures ensuring certainty and availability of workforce has been that the border hasn't been under control," said Rep. Glenn Thompson, the chair of the House Committee on Agriculture. As Trump has brought illegal border crossings to effectively zero, "that excuse is gone," he said.
Such concerns push the Republicans to pursue a position that "potentially puts them at odds with the Trump administration's goal of mass deportations of people who entered the country illegally," The Wall Street Journal said in Wednesday's report.
"It also risks a replay of more than four decades of failed efforts since Congress's last successful overhaul," it noted. ■
