A much-maligned mass detention center in Florida served as inspiration for a Nevada Republican Party fundraising email. (Photo by Alon Skuy/Getty Images)
The Nevada Republican Party thinks the state should build its own high-security immigration detention center and name it “Coyote Compound.”
The party sent a fundraising email Aug. 8 asking if Nevada should follow Florida’s example and construct its own detention facility.
“Florida has Alligator Alcatraz — a high-security ICE detention center designed to detain and process illegal immigrants quickly and efficiently,” reads the email. “Now, we’re asking: Should Nevada have something similar? We’re calling it the Coyote Compound, and it would send a clear message: Nevada takes border security seriously.”
After the email heavily suggests what readers’ answers should be, the email urges readers to click a link to take a poll. And after submitting their preference for the “Coyote Compound” (“Yes,” “No,” or “I’m not sure”) readers are directed to a page where they’re invited to donate money to the party.
The state Republican Party, which did not respond to a request for comment, may have been more focused on raising money for itself instead of actually galvanizing government and community support for construction of a much-maligned — and expensive — detention camp.
The detention center in Florida’s Everglades was opened last month. The hastily built facility, which is expected to hold up to 5,000 beds, has been heavily criticized for abhorrent conditions, a lack of transparency concerning practices and detainees, and environmental concerns.
The ACLU has also warned of reports where people who are detained there “are fed maggot-infested food, denied medical care, not given access to water, flushing toilets, or showers, and are not allowed to go outside.”
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis authorized $245 million in funding, provided by Florida taxpayers, to get the facility up and running.
Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and Republican state Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus did not respond to requests for comment.
“The crisis at the border isn’t just a border state problem anymore, it’s a national emergency, and Nevada needs to be part of the solution,” the Nevada Republican Party asserted in its email.
That claim seems to be at odds with Trump, who recently asserted “We now have the most secure border in modern American history.”
The email from the state Republican Party advocating a Florida-style immigration detention camp happened to be sent the same day Lombardo confirmed he would authorize the Nevada National Guard to assist with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Laura Martin, the executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and a steering committee member of the Nevada Immigrant Coalition decried the Republican Party’s push, even if only in a fundraising email, for a “Coyote Compound.”
“Joe Lombardo is the de facto leader of the Nevada Republican party and this kind of violent, racist rhetoric is exactly what is taking our state down a path of economic collapse,” Martin said. “Nevadans deserve strong leadership that respects all residents, not culture war-chasing gimmicks designed to remind people why our nickname is the Mississippi of the West.”
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Author: Michael Lyle
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