Kristi Noem Defends Conditions At 'Alligator Alcaraz' As Criticism Mounts: 'Standards Are Extremely High'

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem defended the conditions at the migrant detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz," saying standards there are "extremely high."

Speaking to NBC News' "Meet the Press," Noem said "our detention centers at the federal level are held to a higher standard than most or state centers and even federal prisons." "The standards are extremely high, now this is a state-run facility at Alligator Alcatraz," Noem told host Kristen Welker.

Noem addressed the matter after Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who visited the facility on Saturday, said conditions made his "heart sink." "They opened the door, there was about six security guards standing there pushing us back. But we could see in, and we could hear everybody. When those doors opened, what I saw made my heart sink. I saw 32 people per cage, about 6 cages in one tent. I saw a lot of young men who looked like me, people who were my age," Frost began.

"People were yelling 'help me help me.' I heard in the back someone saying 'I'm a US citizen.' And as we were walking away they started chanting 'Freedom, freedom.' Looking into these cages, you could see, it was warm and hot within the tent, people were sweating, some people had taken off the top of their clothing because it was just so hot. Some of them were drenched in sweat," he continued.

"The food we saw was not enough food. They were being fed essentially a small sandwich and a bag of chips. Not just that, but the conditions outside, of course, it's blazing hot... The drinking water comes from the toilet. Not everyone is going to be able to drink as much water as they'd like to because of that inconvenience. But also, it's gross and disgusting, and that's where people are being held."

Other Democratic lawmakers from Florida echoed Frost's sentiments, describing the appalling conditions they witnessed within the facility following their tour. "I went to the Everglades detention facility today. Even on a limited, sanitized tour it was clear: this is an internment camp. Our taxpayer dollars are being wasted to cruelly cage human beings," said Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Noem reacted to the statements, saying "I wish they would have said that back during the Biden administration and back when the Democrats were in the White House when they were piling people on top of each other on cement floors and they didn't have two feet to move." "They never did that, and that's why this politics has to end," she added, vowing to allow cameras in the facility to show conditions there.