Phil Williams, former Alabama State Senator and host of “Rightside Radio,” was featured as a panelist Monday on CNN’s “NewsNight.”
Williams had to chance to defend President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and their use of the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in Florida.
“Well, listen, first of all, when I was in the State Senate, we had a ICE detention facility in my district,” Williams explained.
“I was involved with several aspects of, you know, the different things that have to be done and the grants that were required and the and the upgrades they had. Every federal detention facility, every one of them goes through the same exact stringent requirements. These people are getting three hots and a cot. They’re not being abused and not being tortured. They’re getting better conditions than I had when my team lived in Afghanistan.”
The reports of cruelty at Alligator Alcatraz are simply false, and the $1000 reward for self-deportation is always an option! pic.twitter.com/eSAWEQPJON
— Phil Williams (@SenPhilWilliams) July 15, 2025
“And so the reality is, the idea that they are somehow being abused as people having their humanity stripped from them, is a misnomer. I reject that,” he added.
CNN contributor Anna Navarro accused Williams of not knowing enough about the problems at the facility because he has never visited it in Florida. That turned out to be a mistake.
RELATED: Alabama-based Rightside Media announces growth on third anniversary
“I haven’t been to that one yet,” Williams responded, “but I’ve been to this — I do not have to walk in the door to know what the requirements are for the nomination, according to Congress.”
Williams also argued that the Trump administration’s attempts to persuade some illegal immigrants to self deport was a good thing.
“So several things, one is the self deportation is, is actually, I mean, they’re paying each one $1,000 and and sending them with a free plane ticket,” he argued. “So self deportation is really not a scary thing.”
After some pushback from others on the panel, Williams doubled down on his argument.
“Some on the the left side of this table are portraying somehow that the self deportations was somehow weighing in hard and pressing down on people,” he said. “It’s like saying, ‘Hey, if you’ll do it this way, we’ll pay you to go.’ How awesome is that? ‘Here’s a free ticket and a flight home.’”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
