Alligator Alcatraz May Be Shutting Down

The days may be numbered for Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz." The New York Times reports that federal and state officials are in early talks to shut down the remote Everglades immigration detention center. Homeland Security officials have reportedly decided the state-run facility is both too pricey and ineffective. Florida has been spending about $1 million a day to operate the facility, and it has requested more than $600 million from the federal government in reimbursement.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has promoted the site—opened last July at a former training airfield between Miami and Naples—as a success that expanded bed space for federal detainees. But immigration advocates, lawyers, and detainees have long described the conditions as harsh and unsanitary. Last month, for example, attorneys for detainees claimed their clients were beaten and pepper-sprayed over a protest about lost phone privileges, the Miami Herald reported. The center held nearly 1,400 men as of last month, about two-thirds of whom were classified by ICE as noncriminal. The site also has been the subject of environmental criticism.