Five States in Talks for Detention Centers Like 'Alligator Alcatraz'—Noem
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem praised Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center during a Saturday press conference, noting that five other states are in "ongoing conversations" to develop similar facilities modeled after the site.
Why It Matters
A new Florida detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," was quickly created on Everglades land and holds an estimated 1,000 beds currently, Noem said on Saturday. It has triggered concern from human rights advocates amid concerning reports of conditions, while widely praised by the Trump administration and many of the president's supporters.
The center is part of the Trump administration's effort to crackdown on illegal immigration. President Donald Trump has vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history, an initiative that has seen an intensification of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the country.
However, ICE is struggling with limited capacity and resources to fulfill its mission of millions of deportations. In addition to the $45 billion to expand ICE detention centers allocated in Trump's "big, beautiful" bill, the White House is trying other ways to increase capacity, from repurposing Guantanamo Bay to new detention center contracts issued for private companies GEO Group and CoreCivic.
What To Know
During a Saturday press conference, Noem applauded Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for his partnership with DHS in getting "Alligator Alcatraz" up and running.
"We've had several other states that are actually using Alligator Alcatraz as a model for how they can partner with us as well," Noem told reporters, adding that it's a state-run facility that is partnered with DHS.
The 39-square-mile site is located at the Miami-Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. The site was chosen in part because it has an airstrip that could be used to fly in detainees. It was built in only eight days to address the federal government's need for more detention beds.
The facility will cost about $450 million per year to operate. While it is offering between 500 to 1,000 beds at first, DeSantis noted it will have the capacity of around 3,000 beds once fully operational.
The center has drawn backlash from immigration, environmental and Indigenous groups and is facing a lawsuit from the group Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity. Noem said on Saturday that it is "held to the same standard that all federal facilities are."
Noem specifically noted, "I'm having ongoing conversations with five other governors about facilities that they may have." The secretary didn't specify which states but noted that all five of the interested governors are Republicans.
"I would challenge some Democrats to start taking care of your states, partner with us in a way to make your community safer," she said.
"We need to double our capacity in detention beds because we need to facilitate getting people out of this country as fast as possible," Noem added.
Since January, the Trump administration has been increasing its efforts to arrest and detain illegal immigrants. While Congress has allocated funding for around tens of thousands of more beds in the current tax bill, the number of detainees stood at roughly 56,300 as of mid-June.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference on July 8 at Reagan National Airport in Washington.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference on July 8 at Reagan National Airport in Washington.
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
What People Are Saying
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said in a July 3 statement: "It is alarming to see enforcement tactics that treat all irregular immigrants as dangerous criminals. Masked, heavily armed agents who do not identify themselves during enforcement activities are surprising - so is the apparent lack of due process in deportation proceedings in recent months.
Along these lines, much of the current rhetoric is obviously intentionally provocative. It is unbecoming of public officials and corrosive of the common good to speak of the deterrence value of 'alligators and pythons' at the Collier-Dade facility. Common decency requires that we remember the individuals being detained are fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters of distressed relatives."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Newsweek in a July 3 statement: "Alligator Alcatraz is a state-of-the-art facility with adequate beds, air-conditioning, on-site medical, and more, that will help get criminal aliens out of the country."
Representative Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat, wrote in a statement: "I've toured these facilities myself – real ones, not the makeshift tents they plan to put up – and even those detention centers contain conditions that are nothing short of human rights abuses. Places where people are forced to eat, sleep, shower, and defecate all in the same room. Places where medical attention is virtually non-existent. Anyone who supports this is a disgusting excuse for a human being, let alone a public servant."
What Happens Next?
Noem told reporters there will be announcements regarding the five other states' new facilities and DHS partnerships soon.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Was Asked About His Message To Texas Families Who Are Angry About Late Flood Alerts, And His Response Is Going Viral For Being "Sick Beyond Belief"
At this point in Donald Trump's presidency, many people have given up hope of Trump behaving like a leader during a tragedy. Most recently, a bizarre moment from Trump's visit to Texas after the floods proves that he's not changing anytime soon. Related: A clip of Trump insulting a reporter for questioning Texas's late flood alerts on behalf of victims' families is going viral: Reporter: Several families are upset because they're saying the alerts didn't go out in time. What do you say to those families?Trump: I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances… Only an evil person would ask a question like that — Acyn (@Acyn) July 11, 2025 CSPAN / Twitter: @Acyn "Several families we've heard from are obviously upset because they say that those warnings, those alerts, didn't go out in time, and they also say that people could've been saved. What do you say to those families?" a reported asked. Related: "Well I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances. This was, I guess, Kristi said, a one in five hundred, one in a thousand years, and uh, I just have admiration for the job that everybody did." "Only a bad person would ask a question like that to be honest with you. I don't know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that." Related: "I think this has been heroism. This has been incredible, really. The job that you've all done. It's easy to sit back and say, 'Ooh, what could have happened here or there,' you know. Like we could've done something differently. This was a thing that's never happened before." As you can guess, this clip is not going over well online. "He fucked up. They fucked up. And the kids died. So he's trying to act like it's an offensive question because he thinks you are stupid," one person wrote. This person called Trump's comments "horrific." Related: "Showing concern for your family is evil to him because he despises his own family. This is sick beyond belief," another person wrote. "This is so so so pathetic. He's like a child who will do ANYTHING except admit a mistake and apologize. Clearly there were things your administration could do better moving forward. Talk about THAT to learn how we can better mitigate this in the future instead of being like." What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Also in In the News:
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
New tax break for auto loans could save some buyers thousands of dollars. But will it boost sales?
Millions of people receive a federal tax deduction for the interest they pay on home loans. Under President Donald Trump's new tax-cut law, many people for the first time also could claim a tax deduction for interest on their vehicle loans. The new tax break will be available even to people who don't itemize deductions. But there are some caveats that could limit its reach. The vehicles must be new, not used. They must be assembled in the U.S. And the loans must be issued no sooner than this year, to list just a few qualifications. Candidate Trump promised an auto loan interest tax break Trump pledged while campaigning last year to make interest on car loans tax-deductible. He said it would make car ownership more affordable and 'stimulate massive domestic auto production.' The idea made it into the big tax-cut bill passed by Congress, which Trump signed into law July 4. The law allows taxpayers to deduct up to $10,000 of interest payments annually on loans for new American-made vehicles from 2025 through 2028. It applies to cars, motorcycles, sport utility vehicles, minivans, vans and pickup trucks weighing less than 14,000 pounds, a threshold referred to as light vehicles. But it only applies to vehicles purchased for personal use, not for fleets or commercial purposes. The tax break can be claimed starting on 2025 income tax returns. But the deduction phases out for individuals with incomes between $100,000 and $150,000 or joint taxpayers with incomes between $200,000 and $250,000. Those earning more cannot claim the tax break. Millions of buyers could benefit, but millions of others will not U.S. automobile dealers sold 15.9 million new light vehicles last year, a little over half of which were assembled in the U.S, according to Cox Automotive. It says around 60% of retail sales are financed with loans. After excluding fleet and commercial vehicles and customers above the income cutoff, an estimated 3.5 million new vehicle loans could be eligible for the tax break this year, if purchasing patterns stay the same, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive. It's the assembly plant, not the automaker's headquarters that matters The tax break applies to vehicles assembled in the U.S., no matter where the company making them is headquartered. All Tesla vehicles sold in the U.S. are assembled in this country. But so are all Acura brands, the luxury model of Japanese automaker Honda. Last year, 78% of Ford vehicles sold in the U.S. were assembled in this country, according to Cox Automotive. But customers wanting the tax break will need to pay attention to specific models. While the Ford Mustang is assembled in Michigan, the Mustang Mach-E is built in Mexico. General Motors assembles all of its Cadillacs in the U.S. But just 44% of its Chevrolets sold last year were assembled in the U.S., and just 14% of Buicks, according to Cox Automotive. That's a lower U.S-assembled rate than Honda (60%), Toyota (52%) and Nissan (48%), which all are headquartered in Japan. Taxpayers could save hundreds of dollars a year The average new vehicle loan is about $44,000 financed over six years. Interest rates vary by customer, so the savings will, too. In general, the tax deduction will decline after the initial year, because interest payments on loans are frontloaded while principal payments grow on the back end. At a 9.3% interest rate, an average new vehicle buyer could save about $2,200 on taxes over four years, Smoke said. The tax savings would be less on a loan at 6.5%, which is the rate figured into calculations by the American Financial Services Association, a consumer credit industry trade group. Some people also could see a reduction in state income taxes Whereas the tax deduction for home loan interest can be claimed only by people itemizing on their tax returns, Congress wrote the deduction for auto loan interest so that it can apply to all taxpayers, including those claiming the standard deduction. On a tax form, the auto loan deduction will come before the calculation of a taxpayer's adjusted gross income. That's an important distinction, because many states use a taxpayer's federal adjusted gross income as the starting point for figuring their state income taxes. If that income figure is lower, it could reduce the state taxes owed. The verdict is out on whether the tax break will boost sales At Bowen Scarff Ford in Kent, Washington, customers started asking about the auto loan tax deduction before Congress had even taken a final vote on the tax-cut bill, said General Manager Paul Ray. So he decided to promote it on the dealer's website. A website ribbon exclaims: 'CAR LOAN TAX DEDUCTION NOW AVAILABLE" while also promoting an electric vehicle tax credit that is ending soon as a result of Trump's tax-cut law. 'I think it's going to help incentivize vehicle purchases through this year," Ray said. Celia Winslow, president and CEO of the American Financial Services Association, concurred: 'For some people deciding — should I buy it, should I not — this could be something that tips the scale.' Others remain skeptical. According to Smoke's math, the average annual tax savings is smaller than a single month's loan payment for a new vehicle. 'I don't think it moves the needle on somebody on the fence of buying a new vehicle or not," Smoke said. "But I think it could influence their decision to finance that vehicle instead of paying cash or instead of leasing a vehicle.'
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Trump Border Czar Tom Homan: ‘There Will Be No Amnesty'
Trump Border Czar Tom Homan: 'There Will Be No Amnesty' | The Conversation lead image
