Key to the marketing ploy underpinning Florida's detention camp in the Everglades is the alligator, portrayed by Republican leaders as a blood-thirsty prison guard ready to attack anyone who escapes.

On July 16, days after the first media investigations about sparse criminal backgrounds among the population were published, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., characterized the migrants at Alligator Alcatraz as "military-age males, and a lot of them have criminal records."

Detainees at Alligator Alcatraz described limited access to water and fresh air, saying they received only one meal a day and that the lights are on 24/7.

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.

Don’t call it ‘Alligator Auschwitz,’ writes columnist Scott Maxwell. But do get informed about the human-rights allegations and secretive, no-bid contracts being handed out in Florida.

The remote facility in the Florida Everglades is expected to cost the state about $450 million annually to operate.

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.