A MAGA supporter has fired up the critics on social media after flaunting a hat that references Alligator Alcatraz, the infamous immigration detention center in South Florida. Even since its opening, the center, located at an isolated airstrip, has sparked controversy and protests amongst those who are firmly against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Protestors have described the place as an “inhuman makeshift prison camp” that can house “3,000 people in dormitories corralled by chain-link fences.” While many are against the operation at this establishment, MAGA supporters hail it as a “cost-effective” detention space that furthers Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
Benny Johnson, a MAGA loyalist, has added fuel to the fire by flaunting his hat on social media. He posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) showing off the hat that has a picture of an alligator right above the text “Alcatraz.”
In the caption, he wrote, “Hi guys, I have just been handed official Alligator Alcatraz merch. I repeat, this prison has merch. Things are going insanely well.” Throughout the whole video, he is seen talking about the merchandise with a big smile on his face, which many people have found insensitive. It appeared as if he was not only praising the Trump administration’s controversial moves, but also mocking the undocumented immigrants who are locked up at the South Florida detention center.
Hi guys. I have just been handed official Alligator Alcatraz merch.
I repeat, this prison has merch.
Things are going insanely well. pic.twitter.com/9MdYLj7nG2
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 1, 2025
“These are human beings you’re laughing about,” one user commented right below his video. Another added, “Imagine nazi merch back in the 1930s with ‘Alligator Auschwitz’ plastered on them as the camps were being built. That’s where we’re at right now.”
A third warned, “Benny, that place will be housing Americans in the not so distant future. Won’t be so cool then.” One individual simply wrote, “Benny, this is embarrassing.”
Another person, who seems to be supporting Trump’s moves, wrote. “I’m on the side of deportations but even I think this is gross.”
“Selling merch for their Concentration Camp. Sick,” a fifth lamented. One individual commented. “While I agree with a lot of what’s going on. The boasting of us building prisons, jails, and taunting people being deported sets us a class below the rest of the world. It’s incredulous to see a world where we are making a mockery of such things.”
Imagine nazi merch back in the 1930s with ‘Alligator Auschwitz’ plastered on them as the camps were being built.
That’s where we’re at right now.
— Pige (@YvesSaintPige) July 1, 2025
However, while many have called out Benny for being insensitive about it, some seem to love the video, pouring their support for the MAGA loyalist.
“When the prison has mech, you KNOW it’s a Trump masterpiece,” one person wrote. Some even asked him where they could buy the hat.
The detention center received the name “Alligator Alcatraz” following Donald Trump‘s statement about it. The President previously said, “We’re surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is, really, deportation. This is an amazing thing that they’ve done here. This is what you need. A lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators.”
