Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center has closed,
governor says
[June 26, 2026]
By JEFFREY COLLINS
The Florida Everglades immigration detention center known as “Alligator
Alcatraz” has served its purpose, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday,
closing the makeshift facility heralded by the Trump administration and
denounced as inhumane by civil rights groups.
DeSantis said the center, which opened in July 2025, was always meant to
be only temporary until more permanent detention centers could be
secured and federal officials now have that capacity.
“We stepped up because there was a gap, but my hope is that they’ll be
able to handle that,” the Republican governor said at a news conference
at the facility.
Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier in June
and sent all of the detainees to other facilities, saying hurricane
season made it unsafe to keep them in the Everglades.
Immigration advocates said the center's tents were never safe or humane
for holding people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their
difficulty accessing lawyers and described poor physical conditions,
including worms in the food, toilets that didn’t flush, floors flooded
with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.
They described large white tents with rows of and rows of bunk beds
surrounded by chain-link cages. The air conditioning could shut off
abruptly in the sweltering Florida heat. Detainees could go days without
showering or getting prescription medicine.
Advocates for immigrants said the closure of “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.
The detention center of tents and trailers was built by DeSantis’
administration in a matter of days. The governor and President Donald
Trump said the center was critical to Republican efforts to return
people in the country illegally back to their home countries.
“There is no question this mission has made the state of Florida safer,"
said DeSantis, noting that 21,000 people were deported through the
facility.
[to top of second column]
|
Trucks come and go from the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration
detention center in the Florida Everglades, Aug. 28, 2025, in
Collier County, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Even with the closure of the facility, Florida continues to play a
key role with other detention centers and an increased role in
helping with immigration enforcement, White House border czar Tom
Homan said at Thursday’s news conference.
“Gov. DeSantis did a good job, and he’s going to continue doing what
he’s doing to help us make this country safe again,” Homan said.
“This isn’t the end of relationship. This is a continuation.”
Lawyers for the immigrants at the facility said their clients
suddenly started leaving for other facilities in South Florida,
California, Arizona, Louisiana and Texas earlier this month,
disappearing for about a week before their attorneys and families
were told where they were sent.
DeSantis said the Everglades airstrip the facility was built around
will continue to be used.
Environmental groups sued over the detention center, saying Florida
officials never got the proper permits or did required reviews on
its impact.
The state and federal governments built the site with no oversight
and closed it with no input, but they will still be held responsible
even with the site is closed, said Paul J. Schwiep, an attorney for
Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.
"The administration believes it can quietly walk away and leave its
mess for others to clean up. The law will not allow them to escape
accountability. We will ask the courts to ensure that the
environmental damage is fully addressed," Schwiep said in a
statement Thursday.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
