The immigration detention center in the Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz has been vacated. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has confirmed that the detainees have been moved but declined to say how many people were transferred or where they went, the Guardian reports. The agency also would not say whether the closing of the installation, which opened in July 2025 and costs state taxpayers an estimated $1.2 million a day to run, is temporary or permanent, per the AP. ICE cast the relocation as a hurricane-season safety move from what it called a "soft sided" installation.
The transfer follows months of scrutiny and allegations of abuse. Florida officials have previously signaled the camp would be temporary, and the New York Times reported in May that the state planned to shut it down, though no formal closure has been announced. Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney at Sanctuary of the South, said all 50 clients whom she and other attorneys have been providing free advice have been moved to south Florida, California, Arizona, Louisiana, or Texas. "They are all gone," Blankenship said. "They have been moved and disappeared into the system and are unavailable to family or counsel, typically for a period of about a week." She said she was given no notice of the transfers.
"Transferring people out of this cruel facility is an important step, but it does not erase the harm that has already been done," said Amy Godshall, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who filed a lawsuit against the state and the federal government claiming detainees lack access to legal representation, per the AP. "The state and federal government must permanently close this facility and commit to never detaining people there again."
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