Trump officials deflect from "Alligator Alcatraz" scrutiny by pointing fingers at Biden
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Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem departs a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on July 8 in Arlington, Virginia. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Border czar Tom Homan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday brushed off humanitarian concerns about a new immigration detention center in Florida, opting instead to criticize conditions under the Biden administration.
The big picture: There have been reports of negligence, inhumane treatment and limited access to legal counsel in the U.S. immigration detention system for years, but the Trump administration has embraced once-fringe tactics, setting off alarms for immigration rights advocates.
- Emblematic of that spectacle is a new facility in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," where detainees have reported inhumane and unclean conditions.
- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), one of a group of Democratic lawmakers who were given a reportedly limited tour of the site Saturday, condemned the lack of privacy in the facility and said detainees were "living in cages."
- State officials have denied allegations of inhumane conditions.
Driving the news: Homan, who noted he has not visited the facility yet, said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that he doubts reports from lawmakers were "factual," pointing to what he described as high ICE detention standards.
- He argued some lawmakers who are now criticizing Trump's approach didn't do the same with the Biden administration over conditions migrants faced during the former president's term.
- "Silence, silence," he said. "Because they're complicit. Because they didn't take the administration on and ask them to secure the border."
Zoom out: Noem on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday disputed that detainees are held in "jail cells," saying they are in "secure facilities but are held to the highest levels of what the federal government requires for detention facilities."
- Noem argued "this politics has to end," but similarly accused Democrats of being mum on the state of migrant detention under Biden.
- "Because if you compare them to what happened under the Biden administration and under the Obama administration, these centers are at the highest levels," she said, adding the administration is looking into "how we can get more detention centers."
Context: Republicans have continued to slam what they describe as Biden's "open border" policies during the prior surge at the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Trump, too, has continued playing the Biden blame game, frequently bashing his predecessor to the press, in speeches and on social media.
The bottom line: The controversy over the detention center continues to grow, even as officials point to the past and deny fresh allegations.
Go deeper: Florida says "Alligator Alcatraz" is temporary. Trump isn't so sure
