U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed cameras brought into the Everglades Detention Center, nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" by the Trump administration, will show that conditions at the facility are better than what migrants faced under former President Biden.
During her appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Noem, who toured the state-run facility ahead of its July 1 opening, pushed back against claims from Florida lawmakers that detainees are being held in "inhumane" conditions. The criticism followed Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's report that 30 people were confined to a single "jail cell," forced to drink water and brush their teeth using the same area designated for using the bathroom.
Noem said she "wouldn't call them jail cells" and described the center as a secure facility that "meets the highest standards required by the federal government for detention centers." She also criticized opponents for staying silent about detention conditions under previous Democratic administrations, which she claimed "were piling people on top of each other on cement floors."
"We took cameras, we'll take cameras in there and show people what these facilities look like," Noem claimed. "Because, if you compare them to what happened under the Biden administration and under the Obama administration, these centers are at the highest levels," she continued, without citing evidence. "They're even higher than what our federal prison standards are, and even state or local often are," Noem added.
The Homeland Security Secretary confirmed the Trump administration is exploring plans to build additional detention centers. She also urged undocumented Americans to self-deport because "then you get the chance to come back to the United States, and that's exactly what we want, is for them to do it the right way."
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