In the middle of directing the most underwhelming deportation effort in modern American history, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has now decided to play swamp games.Literally.Rather than investing in a durable, institutional enforcement backbone capable of sustaining President Donald Trumps mass deportation mandate, Noem is shoveling detention funds into a pop-up project in a Florida swamp proudly dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz." Its not a joke. Its an insult.Lets be clear: the heart of the Trump immigration agenda is mass deportation. That requires infrastructure like beds, buses and planes. And when it comes to beds, were talking real detention facilities and actual jails, not circus tents surrounded by reptiles.ABOUT THOSE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATESSo why is Noem building a "soft-sided" facility in an ecologically fragile mosquito pit, 45 miles from downtown Miami? Why is she seeking to sideline ICEs institutional partners with decades of experience and instead cutting side deals with states desperate for political brownie points?To be clear, this isnt a critique of Floridas historic leadershiponimmigration enforcement at the state-level. The concern is what could happen next.Noem has publicly said she bypassed traditional vendors because she felt they were "too expensive" and not offering "fair prices." So, she turned to Republican governors to see if they could do it cheaper. In her words: "I went directly to states and asked them if they could do a better job providing this service." Shes now courting states and companies with zero ICE experience, hoping for a discount detention revolution.Its a fantasy. Department of Homeland Security appropriations require that a typical ICE bed costs no more than$165/day. The 5,000-bed "Alligator Alcatraz," with its rushed timeline, chain-link zip-tie setup, and alligator-adjacent location is estimated at$450 millionfor a year. Do the math, and with a bed costing $250/day youll see a costly press hit in the Everglades.NOEM, PADILLA AND THE SCARY MESSAGE DEMOCRATS ARE SENDING TO SUPPORTERSThis isnt cost-cutting. Its theater.Worse, its dangerous.By spending limited detention fundsontemporary, politicized state projects, Noem is wasting the best opportunity in decades to entrench custodial detention as a permanent part of our immigration system. We need the opposite of soft enforcement: purpose-built facilities that cant be dismantled by the next Democrat with a pen and a press conference.If temporary staging space is truly needed, there are already tools available: state and local jails, which had an estimated 247,000 open beds nationwide as of mid-2023, can be contracted at scale to bridge the gap without wasting permanent moneyoncorruptible, short-lived camps built for headlines.WE STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWNInstead, Noem is laying out the red carpet for future abuse. These hastily assembled facilities, staffed by non-traditional vendors and unvetted state contractors, are ripe for failure, mismanagement and corruption. And if the White House ever flips blue again? Good luck explaining why a Republican administration used its deportation mandate to build shiny new processing centers tailor-made for an invasion sequel.Dont believe us? Look how theyre funding it. The Federal Emergency Management Agencys (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program (SSP) has set aside$625 millionto fund the state effort initially, a senior official said. This is the same program President Joe Biden used to support local governments and left-wing NGOs to house, feed, and transport illegal aliens released and processed by her predecessor and "criminalsonly" compadre, Alejandro Mayorkas.Lets say it plainly: the obsession with "criminal optics" is blinding this department. Noem wants splashy headlines and snake pit visuals to suggest something bold is happening. But bold isnt tents in the Everglades.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONBold is building and activating over 100,000 permanent detention beds. Bold is viewing every illegal alien as a priority. Bold is preparing for permanence, not pretending that mass deportation can be done in a couple years.The backdrop for all this? Noem has been gallivanting through Central America bragging about "safe third country agreements" that, according to the countries themselves, dont exist. Meanwhile, shes promising to "solve" illegal immigration inone administration while undermining the very infrastructure that would make that possible.If she really believes the problem ends in four years, shes already failed her boss and the American people.What we need isnt a secretary obsessed with optics. We need a builder. A planner. Someone who sees detention infrastructure not as a backdrop for press tours, but as the steel spine of a long-overdue mass deportation effort.This isnt South Dakota. Its the Department of Homeland Security. And the job isnt to look tough. Its to be tough quietly, permanently and at scale.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MARK MORGAN