The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem recently stated in an interview with CBS News that the illegal immigration detention center in Florida, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” will become a model for such state detention centers. She hopes to establish similar detention centers at airports and prisons across the country in the coming months.
Noem emphasized that she has directly appealed to governors and state leaders across the U.S. to cooperate with the Trump administration’s plan to detain and deport more illegal immigrants. She mentioned, “Many states have facilities that are currently vacant or underutilized.”
Last month, DHS established an immigration detention center at an airport in southern Florida with 3,000 beds, estimated to cost $450 million in the first year. Surrounded by 39 square miles of isolated swamp terrain filled with wild animals such as alligators, it resembles the infamous “Alcatraz” prison in San Francisco, hence its nickname “Alligator Alcatraz.”
President Trump visited the facility last month and expressed his hope that similar operations could be seen in “many states” in the future.
Current operations involve outsourcing detention tasks to for-profit prison companies and county jails. ICE, a subsidiary of DHS, negotiates and signs Intergovernmental Service Agreements (IGSAs) with individual locations to lease prison beds.
Noem stated that the “Alligator Alcatraz” model is a cost-effective improvement over the current detention system, with new facilities located near airports or runways to facilitate ICE’s swift and cost-effective transfers.
She added that some facilities under consideration are still undergoing departmental reviews and negotiations. Once they have obtained hearings, proper procedures, and documentation, efficiency will increase.
Funding for this state-based plan will come from the $45 billion allocated to ICE in the “Big and Beautiful Act” signed into law by President Trump last month. This funding is specifically designated to expand ICE’s detention network, effectively doubling the current capacity of 61,000 beds. As of last Saturday, ICE has detained over 57,000 individuals in its detention network spanning over 150 locations nationwide.
In the interview, Noem highlighted limiting ICE detention center contracts to less than five years as a model being promoted. For example, the “Alligator Alcatraz” contract is for one year and can be renewed.
She emphasized questioning the need for 15-year contracts, stating, “We must look at our mission. If, after 15 years, we’re still building and handling 100,000 detention beds, then we have not completed our mission.”
Noem expressed her desire for contractors to offer contracts that truly fulfill the mission, rather than ones solely aimed at lining their pockets, ensuring detainees are not just left in detention beds for the sake of a contract.
Critics, including lawyers, have accused the Trump administration of detaining individuals at “Alligator Alcatraz” without charges or access to immigration courts, violating their constitutional rights.
Kevin Landy, the former ICE detention policy and planning director under the Obama administration, stated that Florida has no legal authority to detain undocumented immigrants without signing contracts with ICE.
While some detainees have complained about unsanitary and inhumane conditions, including finding maggots in food, deprivation of religious rights, limited access to legal aid, and water, Florida officials have denied these allegations.
Noem insisted, “President Trump wants people to know: If you are a violent offender and in this country illegally, there will be consequences.”
She stressed that deterrence is an effective strategy to “encourage voluntary returns.” Noem said, “When they see the U.S. enforcing laws and know they are here illegally, being detained and deported, there is no chance of returning unless they choose to go back voluntarily.”
She mentioned a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in March, where the president expressed fears regarding her citizens losing opportunities to return to the U.S. with visas or work plans.
During a lunch meeting last Thursday in Quito, Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa informed Noem that illegal Ecuadorian immigrants in the U.S. are fewer than those from Mexico and Venezuela. He estimated that over 100,000 Ecuadorians had returned, attributing this to Ecuador’s robust economy and DHS’s TV campaigns across Latin America warning against illegal immigration to or remaining in the U.S.
Noem recalled, “He proudly stated that his economy had improved, creating job opportunities. Meanwhile, our ads running in Ecuador tell people if they have family members illegally residing in the U.S., it’s time to persuade them to return home.”
(Adapted from CBS NEWS)