Photos by B. Scott McLendon
Audio By Carbonatix
The detainees are gone. The buses are leaving. And according to an announcement from Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday, Florida’s controversial Everglades immigration detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz will soon be little more than a memory.
The controversial $1.2 billion facility held more than 22,000 detainees since its opening July 2025. Reports of inhumane and unsanitary conditions were rampant during the facility’s run, including reports of actual torture, according to Amnesty International. DeSantis on Thursday said the facility had served its purpose.
“There is no question this mission has made the state of Florida safer,” he said at a news conference at the facility.
Why is Alligator Alcatraz closing?
Days after federal officials confirmed that all detainees had been transferred out of the facility ahead of hurricane season, social media accounts and local observers began posting images that appeared to show the site being dismantled.
In response to questions about when the facility would revert back to the county, why it was closing, and where the detainees had gone, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson told New Times in an email, “As we enter into hurricane season, ICE and the state of Florida have moved illegal aliens from the soft sided facility. For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities.”
Why do critics question the hurricane explanation?
Some immigrant advocates, like Florida Immigrant Coalition policy consultant Thomas Kennedy, argue that the hurricane excuse doesn’t make sense because officials opened the facility in July 2025 (damn near the beginning of hurricane season). Instead, Kennedy believes the apparent closure comes from shifting political tides, the upcoming midterm elections, and the small nagging issue of owing about $600 million to vendors who helped operate the site, he tells New Times.
“Last year they didn’t seem to give a shit about hurricane season at all,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy recalled officials at the time of the opening telling detractors they had nothing to worry about when it came to hurricane preparedness, saying, “‘you guys don’t have to worry because these tents can withstand a Category 2 hurricane, so we don’t even have to evacuate until we get a Category 3, 4, or 5.’”
What Kennedy says has changed since last year is the political atmosphere around ICE’s policies, with multiple killings and horror stories from detainees inside ICE facilities turning many Republicans against President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies.
Could money be behind the decision to close Alligator Alcatraz?
Another demonstrable change is who’s footing the $1.2 billion bill attached to the facility, Kennedy said. In February, the Trump administration told Florida it wouldn’t be splurging $608 million on the bill. Since then, the U.S. Department of Justice ruled the federal government can only pay for operational costs. The Trump administration responded in May by sending $58 million.
Reports dating back to May suggested Florida planned to begin “demobilizing” the facility once the last detainees were removed. According to Florida Immigrant Coalition (which has tracked Alligator Alcatraz from its opening), about 22,000 people were detained at the facility throughout its operation, with detainees ranging from young teenagers to men in their 80s.
Why was Alligator Alcatraz so controversial?
The detention center, officially known as the South Florida Detention Facility but universally nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz, opened in July 2025 on the grounds of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a remote airstrip in the Everglades west of Miami.
As New Times previously reported, the facility quickly became one of the most controversial immigration detention centers in the country. Detainees, attorneys, and advocacy groups alleged inadequate medical care, unsanitary conditions, limited access to legal counsel, and other abuses. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe also challenged the project, arguing the state bypassed environmental reviews to build the camp in a sensitive section of the Everglades.
The end of the facility has been months in the making.
In May, multiple news outlets reported that vendors operating at the site had been informed that Florida intended to shut the camp down and begin removing infrastructure after detainees were transferred elsewhere. At the time, Gov. DeSantis acknowledged the facility was always intended to be temporary and suggested it had already served its purpose.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed that all detainees had been relocated to other facilities because of hurricane-season concerns. Federal officials said the camp’s soft-sided structures posed risks during severe weather.
What happens next to Alligator Alcatraz?
Reports from May indicated that once the last detainees left, contractors would begin removing fencing, trailers, and other temporary structures erected on the former airport grounds. One lawmaker who toured the facility earlier this year said officials told him the removal process could take between 15 and 30 days.
Thursday’s announcement marks a dramatic end for a facility that became a national symbol of Florida’s hard-line immigration policies and generated months of litigation, protests, and international headlines.
For now, however, Florida officials have not publicly announced a timeline for restoring the Dade-Collier airfield to its previous aviation-training use.
And even though some of the fences, trailers, and tents may still be in place, “Alligator Alcatraz” looks to officially be dead.
Do you have more questions? Submit them here.
