“Alligator Alcatraz”: The Swamp Where American Decency Drowned

Trump branded cruelty like it’s a Disney theme park attraction. It’s time we name it what it is. Floridachau, The Sunshine Gulag, Alligator Auschwitz. Make it stick.

Jul 08, 2025

There’s something especially sick about the phrase “Alligator Alcatraz.” On one level, it’s classic Trump—absurd, aggressive, and oddly sticky. But zoom out for a second: this isn’t just another headline-grabbing nickname. This one crosses a line. A big one.

“Alligator Alcatraz” doesn’t just smear an enemy. It brands a real place—a migrant detention center, a literal concentration camp— as if it were some Disney Florida-themed amusement park for cruelty. It turns imprisonment into entertainment. It reduces human suffering to a punchline. And worse, it normalizes it.

Once upon a time, a simple appeal "Have You No Sense of Decency?" on live TV ended the McCarthyism. That was a moment of American Greatness. For decades, we’ve relied on a certain baseline of American decency—imperfect, flawed, but still real.
A sense that some things are too serious to joke about, too sacred to turn into branding. Trump has shredded that. The “Alligator Alcatraz” nickname isn’t just trolling. It’s marketing fascism.

We Must Reclaim the Language

So what do we do about it?

We start by reclaiming the language. If Trump wants to slap a neon sign on a dystopian policy and call it “Alligator Alcatraz,” we slap one back and call it what it really is:

→ Floridachau.
→ Sunshine Gulag.
→ … ?

These names aren’t just edgy takes. They’re honest attempts to show how dangerous this moment is. History has taught us what happens when we let dehumanizing language take over—and we know where that road leads. The Nazi Germany created a vast network of concentrations camps between 1933 and 1945. Trump already said he'd like to see facilities like 'Alligator Alcatraz' in 'many states'

2.) A Call to the Media

This is also a challenge to the media—mainstream and indie alike: Stop using Trump’s nicknames as if they’re just flavor. Every time they get printed without critique, they carry his worldview straight to the front page. Don’t let “Alligator Alcatraz” become another “Crooked Hillary” or “Sleepy Joe.” It’s not harmless. It’s propaganda. And it works. It works by the countless repetitions, we must do the same!

3.) Use the Art. Spread the Word. Don’t Ask.

The images we’ve created for this piece? They are all unbranded. Take them. Use them. Share them. Turn them into memes, posters, posts, t-shirts, stickers. You don’t need to credit us or this Substack. It’s 2025 and mashups and remixes are the creativity on the web.

We’re not here to build a brand. We already did it in last 15 years. We’re here to build resistance.

This is about fighting back with truth, art, and clarity. It’s about cutting through the smog of performative cruelty and saying: No, this isn’t normal. And we won’t play along.

We’re in this together.