By CHRIS MEGERIAN and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will visit a new migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades on Tuesday, showcasing his border crackdown in the face of humanitarian and environmental concerns.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it will be “informally known as Alligator Alcatraz,” a moniker that has alarmed immigrant activists but appeals to the president’s aggressive approach to deportations.

“There’s only one road leading in, and the only way out is a one way flight,” she said. “It is isolated and it is surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain.”

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The detention facility is being built on an isolated airstrip about 50 miles west of Miami, and it could house 5,000 detainees. The surrounding swampland is filled with mosquitos, pythons and alligators.

Trump will be joined by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor.

DeSantis confirmed Trump’s trip earlier in the day, saying he thinks the facility will be “ready for business” by the time he visits.

The governor, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year, said he spoke with Trump over the weekend. He also said the site obtained approval from the Department of Homeland Security.

“What’ll happen is you bring bring people in there,” DeSantis said during an unrelated press conference in Wildwood. “They ain’t going anywhere once they’re there, unless you want them to go somewhere, because good luck getting to civilization. So the security is amazing.”

The facility has drawn protests over its potential impact on the delicate ecosystem and criticism that Trump is trying to send a cruel message to immigrants. Some Native American leaders have also opposed construction, saying the land is sacred.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who popularized the name “Alligator Alcatraz,” has described the facility as a “one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.”

“There’s really nowhere to go. If you’re housed there, if you’re detained there, there’s no way in, no way out,” he told conservative media commentator Benny Johnson.

He has described the facility as “Alligator Alcatraz.” DHS posted an image of alligators wearing hats with the acronym ICE, for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

State officials in Florida are spearheading construction but much of the cost is being covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which is best known for responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

By TARA COPP, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top military commander in charge of troops deployed to Los Angeles to respond to protests against immigration raids has asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if 200 of those forces could be returned to wildfire fighting duty, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and 800 active duty Marines against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom in early June to respond to a series of protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles.

The federal troops’ domestic deployment raised multiple legal questions, including whether the administration would seek to employ emergency powers under the Insurrection Act to empower those forces to conduct law enforcement on U.S. soil, which they are not permitted to do except in rare circumstances. The Marines, however, are primarily assigned to protecting federal buildings.

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The Insurrection Act has not been used. But in at least one circumstance, Marines have temporarily detained civilians in Los Angeles.

California has just entered peak wildfire season, and Newsom has warned that the Guard is now understaffed due to the Los Angeles protest deployment.

The top military commander of those troops, U.S. Northern Command head Gen. Gregory Guillot, recently submitted a request to Hegseth to return 200 of the National Guard troops back to Joint Task Force Rattlesnake, which is the California National Guard’s wildfire unit, the officials said.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet announced publicly.

Trump has contended that “there has been an invasion” of migrants entering the country without legal permission. At the height of the deployments some members of Congress in their annual budget hearings with the secretary questioned whether he foresaw extending the deployment nationwide, Hegseth did not provide a direct response.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, at the time told the lawmakers “I don’t see any foreign, state-sponsored folks invading, but I’ll be mindful of the fact that there have been some border issues.”

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Monday ending U.S. sanctions on Syria, following through on his earlier promise to do so.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move was designed to “promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace.” Sanctions will remain in place on former President Bashar Assad, his associates and others, she said.

The U.S. granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in May, which was a first step toward fulfilling the Republican president’s pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.

Trump met with Syria’s interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia in May and told Al-Sharaa that he would lift sanctions and explore normalizing relations in a major policy shift between the U.S. and Syria.

“This is another promise made and promise kept,” Leavitt said Monday.

The European Union has also followed through with lifting nearly all remaining sanctions on Syria.

Over the weekend in Detroit, the Twins moved past the 81-game mark, the official halfway point in their season — although manager Rocco Baldelli called in an “arbitrary halfway point.”

Arbitrary or not, it’s still a fair time to assess where the Twins are in season during which they, in Baldelli’s words, “Played all kinds of baseball.” They’re 40-44 and third in the American League Central, but a quick glance at their record doesn’t properly indicate how good, and how bad the Twins have been this at times this season.

“It’s (been) very up and down,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “I think we were coming into this year hoping to find more consistency than we have. I still think there’s a lot of time to do that. … We’re not where we want to be, but there’s still plenty of time to get to where we want to be.”

Here’s a look back.

Highlight: 13-game winning streak

For the second straight season, the Twins got off to a slow start and then pulled themselves back over .500 with a prolonged winning streak. Last year, they rattled off 12 straight wins and introduced a rally sausage to the world.

This year, they won 13 consecutive games from May 3-17, which was the second-longest winning streak in Twins history. Twins pitchers threw 34 straight scoreless innings, a streak that was broken the same day the winning streak ended.

Within the stretch, the Twins won a pair of games against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, swept the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants at home, swept the Orioles again — this time on the road — and then took a pair of games in Milwaukee before losing the series finale to the Brewers.

Lowlight: June

The Twins closed out the month of June on Sunday with a loss in which they got dominated by Tigers ace and reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.

At one point, they lost 11 of 12 games and 15 of 18 on their way to a 9-18 record in the month.

June was a month in which they lost staff ace Pablo López to a moderate shoulder strain, Zebby Matthews to a shoulder injury of his own and Royce Lewis, who had just started heating up, to a hamstring strain. Lewis should return on Tuesday when the Twins kick off a three-game series in Miami.

The pitching staff finished the month with a collective 6.07 earned-run average, the worst in the majors. Within that, starter Bailey Ober gave up 30 earned runs across his five starts (9.00 ERA) and the Twins are searching for answers on how to get the normally-steady right-hander back on track.

Highlight: Byron Buxton

Later this week, Byron Buxton will almost certainly be named to the American League All-Star team for the second time in his career. That would be particularly special for the outfielder considering the game is being played in his home state of Georgia, and it would be a well-deserved honor for the center fielder, who is enjoying some of the best health of his career.

Buxton has been a consistent bright spot for the Twins, hitting .281 with a .914 OPS this season. His 19 home runs pace the team, as do his 51 RBIs. He’s a perfect 15 for 15 on stolen base attempts and has provided his usual Gold Glove defense in center field.

He has already posted a 3.4 fWAR (Wins Above Replacement per FanGraphs), which was tied for 12th in the majors entering Monday. Buxton’s own personal highlights include a 479-foot home run, the longest of his career, and a beautiful diving catch to secure a win in April.

“He’s one of the best players in the game,” Baldelli said. “We’re seeing it on a daily basis right now.”

Lowlight: Buxton, Correa collide

Carlos Correa raced back, his body angled toward the ball he was preparing to catch. Buxton raced in, his sights on the same ball as he called off Correa.

Somehow, some way, Buxton managed to grab the ball and hang onto it even as he collided with Correa. Both ended up down on the Oriole Park at Camden Yards grass from the impact of the collision and remained that way before eventually getting up gingerly.

Neither made it out their May 15 collision unscathed. Correa went on the injured list immediately with the first concussion of his life. He was sidelined for a week. Buxton, who has had concussions in the past, missed two weeks because of the play.

Highlight: Newcomers making an impact

The Twins’ front office didn’t have a lot of financial flexibility to work with this offseason, but the moves it made have worked out pretty well so far.

Harrison Bader, a Gold Glove Award-winning center fielder, has shifted over to left field seamlessly, giving the Twins one of the best defensive outfields in the game when him and Buxton play alongside each other. The veteran is currently second among Twins position players in fWAR.

Signed to a non-guaranteed contact, Ty France has posted up nearly every single day at first base and currently leads the team in games played. He’s been particularly good in some of the most important situations and already has a pair of walk-offs to his name.

In the bullpen, Danny Coulombe owns a 0.81 earned-run average across 22⅓ innings pitched. The left-hander began his season by not allowing a run in his first 21 appearances. Dating back to last season with the Baltimore Orioles, he went more than a full calendar year without allowing a run.

And in season, the Twins added Kody Clemens, who has carved out a role for himself, showed some pop and currently has a 120 OPS+ (100 is league average).

Lowlights: Some young-ish position players not so much

With both Brooks Lee and Lewis on the injured list to begin the season, Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien started the season with roles on the roster. But that pair, once regarded as important pieces of the Twins’ future, have spent much of the season in St. Paul.

Miranda was hitting .167 with 13 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances in 12 games before his April demotion. Julien was also batting sub .200 when he was sent down in early May and had endured his fair share of defensive struggles.

Matt Wallner was among the Twins’ best players early in the season but since returning from a hamstring strain that cost him a month and a half, he’s hit .163 with a .666 OPS and Lewis went through an 0-for-36 slump before picking things up in June and then getting injured again. On the season, he’s hitting .202 with two home runs and a .585 OPS in 30 games.

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