DeSantis Says Alligator Alcatraz Is History

The Florida immigration detention center known as"Alligator Alcatraz" has shut down nearly a year after it was built in the Everglades, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday. DeSantis said the center was always supposed to be open for only about a year until more permanent detention centers could be secured, and federal officials now have that capacity, the AP reports. "It served its purpose for the time," the Republican governor said at a news conference. Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier in June, saying hurricane season made it unsafe to keep the detainees in the Everglades. All of the people kept at the isolated airstrip had been sent to other facilities.

Immigration advocates said the tents were never safe or humane to hold people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers, and have described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that don't flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere. The detention center was built by DeSantis' administration in a matter of days in 2025. DeSantis and President Trump said the detention center was critical to Republican efforts to return people in the country illegally back to their home countries.

• DeSantis said 21,000 people were deported through the facility. "There is no question this mission has made the state of Florida safer," he said.
• Advocates for immigrants said closing "Alligator Alcatraz" does nothing to stop the harm to people who spend months in custody as their families suffer. The Florida Immigrant Coalition said the only winners were corporations and contractors who profited millions of dollars as Republicans pushed an immigration emergency that does not exist.
• Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Thursday that her administration hopes to transfer the county-owned land to the National Park Service and other Everglades restoration partners. "From the very beginning, I have raised serious concerns about the 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention facility because people have been held there in inhumane conditions without meaningful due process, while occupying land alongside one of the world's most precious natural ecosystems," she said in a statement. "Once this facility is decommissioned, we have an opportunity to permanently protect these lands for Everglades restoration and ensure they remain protected for generations to come. That is the legacy we should leave."