Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday the national authorities volition money an effort by Florida to acceptable up migration detention centers, which see a projected tract successful the Everglades that authorities officials person dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."
Noem said the detention facilities successful Florida volition beryllium funded "in ample part" by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's structure and services program, an inaugural created by Congress to enactment groups and cities receiving migrants and asylum-seekers released from national custody on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Primarily charged with overseeing catastrophe alleviation efforts, FEMA is an bureau wrong the Department of Homeland Security that has faced important cuts nether the 2nd Trump administration.
"Under President Trump's leadership, we are moving astatine turbo velocity connected cost-effective and innovative ways to present connected the American people's mandate for wide deportations of transgression amerciable aliens," Noem said successful a connection to CBS News. "We volition grow facilities and furniture abstraction successful conscionable days, acknowledgment to our concern with Florida."
Officials successful Tallahassee archetypal announced plans to assistance the national authorities grow its capableness to clasp detainees awaiting deportation past week.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said a mostly abandoned airfield successful the Everglades would beryllium repurposed arsenic a detention installation to location immigrants surviving successful the U.S. illegally with transgression records. He dubbed it "Alligator Alcatraz," saying immoderate detainees seeking to flight would look alligators and pythons successful the treacherous wetlands surrounding the site.
On Monday, Uthmeier announced the national authorities had "approved" the state's program to physique "Alligator Alcatraz" and different facilities that helium said could collectively location arsenic galore arsenic 5,000 detainees. He said the facilities could commencement receiving detainees aboriginal adjacent month, calling them temporary.
"There's truly obscurity to go. If you're housed there, if you're detained there, there's nary mode in, nary mode out," Uthmeier said successful an interview with blimpish commentator Benny Johnson, describing the "Alligator Alcatraz" facility.
The announcement that national officials program to reimburse Florida for gathering migration holding facilities illustrates a broader effort by Republican-led states to assistance the Trump medication transportation retired its promised wide deportation campaign.
As the Trump medication has aggressively expanded migration arrests passim the country, its efforts person been aided by instrumentality enforcement officials successful reddish states similar Louisiana, Texas and Florida. In Texas, authorities National Guard troops person been deputized arsenic migration officers and fixed the authorization to enforce national migration laws.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the migration newsman astatine CBS News. Based successful Washington, helium covers migration argumentation and politics.
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