"Alligator Alcatraz" is the nickname for a migrant detention center set up in June 2025 at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, way out in Ochopee, Florida, which is smack dab in the middle of the Everglades, where, yes, there are a lot of alligators.

The name seems to have stuck almost immediately, partly because it sounds like something out of a bizarre Florida headline, and partly because the place was built to ramp up immigration enforcement under the President’s latest policies.

It didn’t take long for the internet to jump on it. By late June, memes started popping up everywhere (many of them AI-generated) showing cartoon alligators acting as ICE agents or prison guards. Things got even more surreal when the Homeland Security official Twitter / X account posted a meme on June 28th &madash; a move that stirred up a lot of controversy as people criticized it for being tone-deaf and turning a serious, sensitive issue into a joke.

To some, Alligator Alcatraz is just another part of a tough-on-immigration strategy. But to others, it’s a symbol of how harsh and even absurd those policies have become, especially when the line between enforcement and internet meme culture starts to blur.

Here's a selection of memes, webcomics, commentary and other reactions to Alligator Alcatraz making the rounds online.