Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem delivered a pointed response to critics of Florida’s new detention facility during Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” turning the spotlight on detention conditions during the previous administration.
The exchange came after Democrats called for the shutdown of Florida’s controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” facility following a Saturday tour that revealed what lawmakers described as overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.
NBC host Kristen Welker pressed Noem about the mounting complaints from Democratic lawmakers who toured the facility over the weekend.
Noem defended the facility, stating it meets “the highest levels of what the federal government requires for detention facilities,” before Welker interrupted to highlight Democratic criticism.
“Democrats have called them cages, though,” Welker said, cutting off the DHS secretary mid-response.
Noem quickly fired back with a sharp rebuke of Democratic inconsistency during previous administrations.
“I wish they would have said that back during the Biden administration and back when Democrats were in the White House,” Noem responded.
“And they were piling people on top of each other on cement floors and literally didn’t have two feet to move. They never did that. That’s why this politics has to end.”
The DHS secretary’s comments referenced widely documented overcrowding issues at immigration detention centers during the Biden administration, when millions of migrants entered the country illegally.
Pictures from inside those Biden-era facilities revealed severely overcrowded conditions that drew limited criticism from the same Democratic lawmakers now attacking the Florida facility.
The new Florida detention center, which opened in July, represents a $450 million investment designed to house 5,000 illegal migrants and other foreign nationals in detention.
President Donald Trump and other administration officials toured the facility before it began housing migrants, receiving detailed briefings on its operations and capabilities.
Noem emphasized the facility’s transparency, noting that cameras have been allowed inside and will continue to document conditions.
“We took cameras in there,” Noem continued.
“We will take cameras in there and show people what these facilities look like. Because if you compare them to what happened under the Biden administration and under the Obama administration, these centers are at the highest levels and they’re even higher than what our federal prison standards are or state or local often are.”
The bipartisan congressional tour on Saturday included at least five members of Congress and approximately 20 state legislators, marking the first official inspection by elected officials since the facility opened.
Following the tour, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) made inflammatory accusations against the facility, calling it an “internment camp” according to Politico reporting.
Republican participants in the visit dismissed Democratic complaints as exaggerated political posturing rather than legitimate concerns about facility conditions.
“They are essentially packed into cages, wall to wall humans, 32 detainees per cage,” Schultz told reporters after the tour.
Democratic lawmakers also raised concerns about multiple aspects of the facility’s operations, including food quantity, drinking water availability and high temperatures throughout the complex.
Party lawmakers reportedly claimed they were shown only a sanitized version of the center during their visit, suggesting worse conditions existed in areas they were not permitted to access.
Tour participants expressed frustration that they were not allowed to speak directly with detainees or enter the tents where migrants are housed to conduct their own assessment of living conditions. However, Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R-FL) strongly disagreed with Democratic characterizations of the facility, describing their complaints as manufactured controversy.
Ingoglia dismissed the Democratic criticism as “political theater,” telling Politico the center was “clean, air-conditioned, and well-kept” during his tour.
“The rhetoric does not match the reality,” Ingoglia told the outlet. “It’s basically all political theater coming from the [Democrats]. What they’re saying is pure bullsh*t.”
The post Noem Perfectly Exposes Glaring Hypocrisy Amid Dems’ ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Freakout appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Jordyn M.
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