Kristi Noem’s flagship Everglades detention camp has been quietly emptied of every detainee over hurricane fears.
The facility, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” was a signature project of Noem’s tumultuous spell as Homeland Security secretary.
The 54-year-old was fired from that role in March by President Donald Trump, who shunted her into a “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas” job, which our sister Substack, PunchUp, revealed in April had been made up to keep her from a Senate run.
Now the camp she championed as a deterrent has been cleared out, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirming to CBS News that detainees were transferred elsewhere as Florida enters peak storm season. “For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities,” a spokesperson said.
The site is on a remote airstrip deep in the Everglades. Detainees slept in air-conditioned tents filled with rows of bunk beds, penned in by chain-link cells. Those “soft-sided” structures are the problem. Officials told Local 10 News the flimsy build could put detainees at risk in a storm.
The retreat caps months of trouble. CBS News reported in May that contractors running the camp had been told it was shutting down, with roughly 1,400 detainees due to be removed. Noem’s successor, current Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, 48, later told the same outlet that the agency had no near-term plans to close it—while conceding it faced weather-related “vulnerabilities.”
The camp was never short on bravado. Trump toured it last summer and joked that escapees would be taught “how to run away from an alligator, OK, if they escape prison,” advising them not to run in a straight line. Noem told migrants who refused to “self-deport” that they “may end up here.”
It hasn’t aged well. The administration sold the camp as a cheap, replicable blueprint for state-run detention. The actual bill is steep and disputed. CNN reported an expected operating cost of roughly $450 million a year.
The camp also attracted lawsuits and fierce criticism from immigration advocates, environmental groups, and the local Miccosukee tribe. Detainees claimed there were worms in the food, broken toilets, and no access to lawyers. The administration has denied that conditions were inadequate.
It is unclear whether anyone will return to the camp after the storms pass.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
