Nearly 40 miles west of Miami, Florida, sits an unused airstrip, once planned to become the largest airport in the world.

Now, officials like Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier are hoping to redevelop it with a different purpose – an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center for undocumented immigrants, which Uthmeier has dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

But the idea itself may run counter to some of the core values of many Florida Republicans, Cristina Silva, managing editor of local news at the Boston Globe, told GBH’s “Under the Radar” in a roundtable recorded at the GBH studios.

“The facility is going to cost Florida $450 million a year to run, and Florida is a state where a lot of Republicans have debate about how much the government should be paying,” said Silva, who is also a Floridian. “That’s interesting that they’re willing to put up this money, though FEMA will pay for some of it.”

Silva said she is unsure how much local push back there will be. Many Florida voters, including Latinos, support President Donald Trump and are eager to remove undocumented people from the United States.

But support for the undocumented-immigrant community has been gaining traction throughout the country, most visibly in Los Angeles after massive anti-deportation protests. In Massachusetts, the case of Marcelo Gomes da Silva, a Milford teenager who was detained by federal authorities on his way to volleyball practice, also has sparked protest.

Gomes da Silva was in detention for nearly a week, and after his release, he spoke candidly about his experience. He talked about sleeping on a concrete floor and the lack of personal space and the ability to shower. Officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, denied Gomes da Silva’s claims.

Julio Ricardo Varela, a MSNBC columnist and founder of The Latino Newsletter, told GBH’s “Under the Radar” in a roundtable recorded at the GBH studios that federal officials often respond this way.

“What this young man said, hundreds of other detained people have said in the past, and ICE has always denied it,” Varela said. “They’re picking up people, and then they’re putting them in these centers that have never been designed to hold people for more than a couple of days. What has happened is that these conditions have been brought up, they’ve been challenged, they haven’t really changed. So I side with the young man.”

Meanwhile, Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna, known most recently for his work on the Disney+ show “Andor,” has taken his activism into late-night television. During his recent guest-host role on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Luna spoke about the decision undocumented immigrants make to leave their homelands, how separating families is unacceptable and how speaking out right now is imperative so undocumented people know they are not alone.

“I think someone who’s just watching late-night TV, maybe who’s not very political or maybe not very familiar with the Latino culture or the debates happening in the Latino community right now, to see that could be very stirring,” Silva said. “I think it stood out to many people because he was so passionate and empathetic for what is happening.”

All that and more on this week’s Latinx news roundtable!

Guests 

  • Julio Ricardo Varela, MSNBC columnist, founder of The Latino Newsletter
  • Cristina Silva, managing editor for local news at the Boston Globe

Stories featured in this week’s roundtable