DHS Uses AI Alligator Meme For New Detention Facility

In late June 2025, a strange and controversial image began circulating online, allegedly posted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The image featured alligators sporting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hats, sparking a flurry of reactions across the political spectrum.

The Viral Post: Alligators in ICE Hats

Screenshots of the post spread rapidly across social media platforms like X (archived), Bluesky (archived), and Instagram (archived, archived). Supporters of the Trump administration praised the post, while critics condemned it as offensive. Some users shared it within a meme format that read:

This is from the official Dept. of Homeland Security account. These people are joking and meme-ing about the concentration camps they're building in the Florida Everglades to hold the people from our communities that they are abducting. TRULY EVIL PEOPLE.

The intense reactions led many to question whether the post was authentic.

Fact-Check: DHS Confirms The Post is Real

The rumors were true. The Department of Homeland Security did post the image of alligators in ICE hats to its official social media channels. On June 28, 2025, the image appeared on the department's official X account (archived) and Instagram page (archived).

The posts were accompanied by the caption "Coming soon!" The Instagram version was a collaborative post, also appearing on the official accounts for ICE and the White House.

An AI-Generated Image

Further analysis revealed that the image itself was created using artificial intelligence. AI-detection platforms Hive Moderation and Sightengine both indicated a 99% likelihood that the image was AI-generated.

Context: The 'Alligator Alcatraz' Detention Center

The post was an apparent reference to a new detention center nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz." Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier had announced a plan on June 19, 2025, to convert a remote airstrip in the Everglades into this new facility.

According to a report by Newsweek, the facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport encompasses "39 square miles of swamp west of Miami." The location's natural barriers are a key feature of the plan. In his announcement video, Uthmeier stated, "People get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide."

Official Administration Response

During a White House news briefing on June 30, 2025, press secretary Karoline Leavitt reinforced this point, saying, "The only way out is a one-way flight. It is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain."

When asked for a comment on the alligator image, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told reporters via email, "These questions are fundamentally unserious and reflect the completely juvenile state of mainstream journalism. Reporters should get off social media and start focusing on the very real victims of illegal alien crime."

When asked about the accusation of "joking and meme-ing about the concentration camps," McLaughlin repeated her previous statement and added that DHS was "working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people's mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens."