Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, told Newsmax on Wednesday that "Alligator Alcatraz," the controversial immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, could start housing migrants "as early as this morning."
President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured the immigrant detention facility, located at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, on Tuesday along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
McLaughlin told Newsmax's "Wake Up America" that the facility could open for use "as early as this morning," adding, "It really is quite the feat. Three thousand beds getting developed and put together in just eight days, it's remarkable what President Trump and Secretary Noem have been able to do since the start of this administration."
She added that "Secretary Noem has called on state and local governments" for assistance, which she said has been "key operationally to really turbocharge those arrests. And that's exactly what the Florida attorney general and DeSantis were able to deliver with 'Alligator Alcatraz.'"
McLaughlin noted that much of the funding for the facility comes "from the federal government, about $450 million from FEMA, from that shelter and services program, which a lot of viewers might remember was the exact funding that was bastardized by the Biden administration and given to five star luxury hotels like the Roosevelt Hotel ... And so now we're using that funding where it should go, which is to hold these illegal aliens until they're deported from our country."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.