• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced “Alligator Alcatraz” as a model for state-run migrant detention centers, with similar facilities planned in Arizona, Nebraska, and Louisiana.
• Noem highlighted the Florida facility’s cost-effectiveness and airport proximity for faster processing.
• A $45 billion federal fund aims to double ICE’s bedspace capacity amid rising detentions.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (TDR) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unveiled plans to expand state-run migrant detention centers modeled after Florida’s controversial “Alligator Alcatraz,” a 3,000-bed facility nestled in the Everglades near Miami. In an interview with CBS News, Noem said she hopes to replicate the model at airports and jails across multiple states including Arizona, Nebraska, and Louisiana, as part of a broader strategy to overhaul Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention operations.

Noem called the Alligator Alcatraz approach “much better” than existing detention prototypes relying heavily on for-profit prison contractors and county jails through intergovernmental service agreements (IGSAs). According to DHS officials, the Florida facility’s estimated cost is $245 per inmate bed per night, notably higher than the average daily cost of $165 for detaining adult migrants nationwide, as reported by the Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yet, she emphasized that proximity to airports and runways enables “quick turnarounds,” reducing detainee stays and overall costs.

“They’re all strategically designed to make sure that people are in beds for less days,” Noem said, stressing ongoing vetting and negotiations for several potential new sites. “It can be much more efficient once they get their hearings, due process, paperwork.”

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Unlike Alligator Alcatraz, which draws from FEMA shelter, food, and transportation funds, Noem said the state-based centers will leverage a new $45 billion funding pool allocated to ICE by President Trump’s recently signed “big, beautiful bill,” projected to nearly double bed capacity from 61,000 to over 120,000.

Noem — who requires personal approval for every DHS contract or grant exceeding $100,000 — said the new policy limits detention contracts to under five years, contrasting sharply with prior long-term deals.

“For me personally, the question that I’ve asked of every one of these contracts is, why are we signing 15-year deals?” Noem remarked. “If we’re still building out and processing 100,000 detention beds 15 years from now, then we didn’t do our job.”

This policy shift distances itself from a February 15-year, $1 billion contract ICE signed with the GEO Group to reopen Delaney Hall, one of the Northeast’s largest detention centers.

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Yet, Noem insists the U.S. isn’t abandoning private detention outright. “These are competitive contracts,” she said. “I want everybody to be at the table, giving us solutions. I just want them to give us a contract that actually does the job — one that doesn’t pad pockets while keeping people detained unnecessarily.”

The Alligator Alcatraz model has faced legal challenges. Attorneys argue that detainees are held without charge or access to immigration courts, violating constitutional rights. Last month, legal filings claimed unauthorized migrants at the Florida site lack recourse to challenge their detention. Questions also linger over the legality of a state-run immigration detention center, a role traditionally reserved for the federal government.

“Florida does not have the legal authority to detain undocumented immigrants absent a contract with ICE,” said Kevin Landy, former ICE detention policy director. “A state government can’t do that.”

Detainees report unsanitary conditions, food contamination, religious rights denial, and restricted legal access, though officials deny these claims.

Located 45 miles west of Miami amid the Everglades’ treacherous terrain, the site’s isolation is intentional. “There definitely is a message that it sends,” Noem said. “President Trump wants people to know if you are a violent criminal and you’re in this country illegally, there will be consequences.”

Drawing on intelligence from federal agencies and Latin American governments, Noem claims deterrence encourages voluntary returns. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum estimates 500,000 to 600,000 have voluntarily returned to Mexico during Trump’s tenure. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa shared similar figures for his citizens returning home, attributing it to economic improvements and DHS campaigns warning against illegal immigration.

Noem has reached out to governors nationwide; many express interest in supporting the program with underutilized facilities near airports, enhancing operational efficiency.

Alligator Alcatraz itself cost approximately $450 million to operate in its first year and was established within eight days, comprising tents and trailers surrounded by swampland and razor wire. President Trump toured the facility recently, joking about teaching detainees to “run away from an alligator” if they escape. He expressed a desire to see similar operations in “many states,” signaling a renewed, aggressive immigration enforcement strategy.

Is this model the future of immigration detention in the United States?

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