(NewsNation) — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has suggested that a Florida migrant detention tent camp known as “Alligator Alcatraz” be used as a blueprint for other states as the federal agency seeks to add locations to hold undocumented migrants facing deportation.
Noem said an announcement about where similar facilities could be opened is coming soon. Noem has been in touch with five GOP governors about their states’ housing detention centers, but she has yet to specify with whom she has spoken.
However, without confirming that they have been contacted, spokespersons for governors in South Carolina, Mississippi and Texas have told NewsNation they are ready to assist in President Donald Trump’s expanding immigration enforcement plans.
“Texas will continue to assist the Trump administration in arresting, detaining, and deporting illegal immigrants,” Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for Gov. Greg Abbott, said.
“Mississippi will do whatever it takes to help support President Trump’s immigration agenda,” Gov. Tate Reeves’ Chief of Staff Cory Custer said. “Nothing is off the table.”
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has directed state officials to “keep exploring how the Palmetto State’s unique assets can be utilized”, a spokesman said. The statement came after Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace wrote on X that “South Carolina’s gators are ready. And they’re not big on paperwork. If I was Governor, we’d be bringing Alligator Alcatraz to South Carolina.”
Lawmakers given ‘sanitized’ tour of Florida detention camp: Democrat
Yet, as supporters of Trump’s call for the largest domestic deportation plan in American history join the push for more detention centers, at least one Democrat is raising alarms over the “cruel” conditions at “Alligator Alcatraz”, which was constructed over just eight days in the Florida Everglades.
Florida State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith was among lawmakers who attempted to tour the facility on July 3, but were denied access by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, he told NewsNation. A week later, the group returned and was granted what he called a “sanitized, state-sponsored propaganda tour” of the facility.
The group was shown empty cages with working toilets, which Guillermo Smith said contradicted the reports that his office has received, which included flooded tents, overflowing toilets and limited access to showers.
Others are being denied access to their appointed immigration attorneys, Guillermo Smith said, and are missing scheduled immigration court appointments because they are detained.
In a statement provided to NewsNation, Stephanie Hartman, the deputy director of communications for the Florida Division of Emergency Management – the state agency that opened the detention center – called claims of poor conditions false.
“The facility is in good working order, and detainees have access to drinking water, showers and clean facilities for hygiene,” Hartman said.
But Guillermo Smith’s bigger concerns exist on top of those surrounding living conditions at the tent camp.
“This is less about how comfortable is the bed? Or how good or bad is the food that is being served?” Guillermo Smith said this week.
“It’s not a joke. This is not a game. These are people’s lives that are being torn apart, and I’m frankly ashamed of what I am seeing.”
Who is being held at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’?
Guillermo Smith says that hundreds of detainees at the Everglades tent camp have been confirmed not to have a criminal record.
He said when lawmakers were given a tour, they were allowed to briefly peer into the door of an occupied tent where 32 detainees were being held inside each cage. He said that the group was not allowed to speak to migrant detainees, who he said were chanting, “Libertad, Libertad” – Spanish for “freedom.”
The Miami Herald reported that families do not have access to lists of migrants being held at the center and that 250 “Alligator Alcatraz” detainees only have immigration-related violations, which are civil offenses, not criminal.
The New York Times, citing a government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that in total, 60% of those being held either have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. Another official stated some migrants who moved to the center were transferred from local jails after they were detained during traffic stops or had been moved to the center from ICE custody.
Guillermo Smith characterized the chants as “ironic.”
“They’re putting undocumented immigrants in this detention camp who are not facing any criminal charges,” he said. “They’re going after cooks, maids, and frankly, immigrants who had legal status five minutes ago.”
Guillermo Smith said that among those who are being held at the center are migrants who previously had Temporary Protective Status, which was recently revoked by Trump. Guillermo Smith said that these migrants are being told to self-deport or are being threatened with being sent to the Everglades facility and face deportation.
Noem announced ahead of her visit to “Alligator Alcatraz” in early July that the Florida facility would house some of the “worst of the worst,” that she said were allowed to enter the United States under the Biden administration. In the announcement, Noem included the names and photos of 11 migrants who she said had been convicted of crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, child abuse and rape.
“Alligator Alcatraz, and other facilities like it, will give us the capability to lock up some of the worst scumbags,” Noem said. “We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida. Make America safe again.”
The fact that the facility is being held up as an example of what Noem wants to replicate elsewhere is concerning to Democratic lawmakers. The facility operates under a $450 million annual cost, which Guillermo Smith said is three times the amount of that to place migrants in an existing permanent detention center.
Florida state officials have announced plans to expand the facility’s capacity to 5,000 beds. That calculates to $90,000 per detainee per year, Guillermo Smith said, which compares to the nearly $30,000 that is spent per inmate to currently house those in state prisons.
In addition, Guillermo Smith said he is ashamed by the notion that the Florida Republican Party is selling “Alligator Alcatraz” merchandise, including $30 T-shirts, $27 baseball caps, and $15 beverage coolers.
“They’re literally not only pushing, but selling propaganda,” he said, adding that the government is using the facility as a “gimmick” or part of a larger political game.
Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have touted the state-run facility, which operates through a 287 (g) agreement that allows states to partner with federal agencies on immigration enforcement.
The New York Times reported that DeSantis is considering opening another facility in North Florida as federal officials seek to expand migrant detention centers across the country. The report indicated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has distanced itself from the facility, with one top official telling the newspaper that “the ultimate decision of who to detain belongs to Florida.”
A Department of Homeland spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on the expansion efforts sent by NewsNation on Thursday.
NewsNation’s Mills Hayes contributed reporting to this story