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Alligator Alcatraz

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Alligator Alcatraz (moniker)
South Florida Detention Facility
Florida Soft-Sided Detention Facility
Donald Trump touring 'Alligator Alcatraz' on July 1, 2025
Alligator Alcatraz is located in the United States
Alligator Alcatraz
Location in the United States
Alligator Alcatraz is located in Florida
Alligator Alcatraz
Location in Florida
LocationDade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, Big Cypress National Preserve, Ochopee, Florida, U.S.
Coordinates25°51′42″N 080°53′49″W / 25.86167°N 80.89694°W / 25.86167; -80.89694
StatusOperational
Security classImmigration detention center
CapacityCurrent = 0[1], Capacity = 2,000,[2]
OpenedJuly 3, 2025
Managed byFlorida Division of Emergency Management in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The South Florida Detention Facility, nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz,[a][3][4] is an empty[5] immigration detention facility located at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport inside Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Florida, United States.[6][7][8]

The facility received significant media attention during the summer of 2025 due to its moniker, unique remote environment, political marketing effort, and references to concentration camps.[9][10][11][12] The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis invoked a standing immigration "state of emergency" to seize the county-owned airfield and fast-track construction[13] without the usual environmental reviews or the traditional collaboration with local officials.[14] On July 1, 2025, President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem toured the facility for its opening.[15] Resources of state and local agencies, including the National Guard, Highway Patrol, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Lottery, contribute to the accompanying surge of immigration detention.[16] All migrants were removed from the camp according to a DHS spokesperson on June 16, 2026. The exact location of the migrants is uncertain.[17]

Managed by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, it is the first state-run facility to hold federal immigration detainees in the United States at a burn rate of US$1.2 million per day, following an initial request for a US$1.49 billion federal grant.[18][12] In August 2025, U.S. district judge Kathleen Williams granted a preliminary injunction halting construction and prohibiting the government from transferring any additional detainees to the site, which was later stayed by the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit allowing continued operations.[19][20]

The camp has received criticism and lawsuits for inhumane conditions faced by detainees,[21] its environmental impact,[22][23][24] the desecration of ancestral lands,[25] lack of due process or order of removal,[26] medical neglect,[27][28] costs and funding,[29] and removing people to a third country without the third country's approval.[30] Human rights organizations and legal experts say the camp does not meet the minimum standards of human treatment required for persons detained under international law due to the declared absence of sanitary facilities, medical care and access to legal advice with potential violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT).[31]

It was announced in June 2026 that the facility was to permanently shut down.[32]

Location

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Takeoff of an airplane at the Everglades Jetport, July 1972

Located in the Everglades, the Big Cypress area was proposed to become the site of a new Miami Jetport and construction began in 1968 as Everglades Jetport. In 1969, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, author of The Everglades: River of Grass, founded Friends of the Everglades. Construction was halted in 1970 due to efforts of Native Americans including Buffalo Tiger, hunters, environmental concerns related to the Big Cypress Swamp and the cancellation of the 2707 Boeing program. By that point only one 10,500-foot (3,200 m) runway was built, the facility occupying 39 square miles (100 km2).[33]

Following continued efforts to federally protect the area, Big Cypress National Preserve became one of the first National preserves in the United States National Park System on October 11, 1974.[34] The Big Cypress National Preserve provides the Miccosukee, Seminole and Traditional people with permanent rights to occupy and use the land in traditional ways. In addition, they have first rights to develop income-producing businesses related to the resources and use of the preserve, such as guided tours.[35]

Big Cypress National Preserve was designated a DarkSky International park in 2016; the nation's first preserve to achieve "dark sky" status.[36]

History and cost

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Background

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During his second and current tenure, President Donald Trump and his administration have pursued a deportation policy characterized as "hardline" [37] and "maximalist".[38] Trump has called for "huge camps"[39] where migrants would be held in internment camps prior to deportation.[40] On May 31, 2025, the Supreme Court approved the end of humanitarian legal status for migrants from four countries as part of mass deportation, but also highlighted the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of due process.[41] Federal funding for the policy was voted by the U.S. Senate budget reconciliation bill on July 1, 2025, which includes $45 billion for immigration detention centers, a 265% increase to ICE's annual detention budget.[42]

The FDEM spent at least US$573 million on immigration enforcement without the Legislature's approval, before the Florida Legislature refused the use of emergency funds for immigration issues in February 2026.[43][44] Both Democratic Party and Republican legislators[45] have questioned the use and overreach of emergency powers.[46] Demographers from Florida State University found that the number of immigrants without legal status in Florida has declined since 2018, concluding "that policies that discourage new arrivals or encourage — or force — migrants to leave could jeopardize Florida's robust economy and the well-being of its population."[47] Federal instances, including Homeland Security,[48] and the state government, represented by Attorney General of Florida, James Uthmeier and DeSantis.[49] closely partnered on this facility as early as June 2025.[50]

On June 19, 2025, Uthmeier publicly announced the detention center calling it "Alligator Alcatraz." Official sources later stated that the official name is the "South Florida Detention Facility".[3][51] According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, the official name is the "Florida Soft Sided Facility South".[52] Signs outside the camp indicate "Alligator Alcatraz" as the name.[53][54] The Tampa Bay Times and The Palm Beach Post described the speed of the construction as causing confusion on whether it was an official name or simply a branding effort.[11]

On June 23, 2025, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wrote to the Florida Division and stated, "With the federal and state government investing well over $10 billion since 2019 in Everglades restoration and protection, we would appreciate a detailed analysis and report on environmental impacts of this facility to the Everglades."[23]

On its opening on July 1, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump and then Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem joined DeSantis and other Florida state leaders. Trump said the compound, "might be as good as the real Alcatraz," adding it's "a little controversial, but I couldn't care less."[15] Desantis repeated in July 2025 that all detainees had a final removal order, which Eunice Cho of the ACLU stated is "clearly inaccurate."[55]

Amid discussions of its closure in mid-May 2026, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the planned “Panhandle Pokey” had been abandoned, while at least eight unannounced flights for a total capacity of 400 persons left the jetport for Alexandria, Louisiana according to immigration attorney Laura Quintero.[56]

Construction and operational costs

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Documents requested by Second Judicial Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey in March 2026 show Florida has spent more than $1.2 million per day to run the camp, with a "daily burn" rate of $3 million a day during its earliest weeks.[57] Florida officials initially announced a cost of US$450 million a year to operate[58] at $245 a day per bed, more than the average estimated daily cost of detention of $187 for ICE.[59] In April 2026, records report that the cost of US$1.2 million per day for 1,400 people detained corresponds to US$850 per day and per bed.[12]

Private companies[60][61] built the facility and the Florida National Guard was deployed to secure the site.[62][63] The Florida Division of Emergency Management and the governor's office bypassed procurement and competitive bidding rules and selected IRG Global Emergency Management, who had given $10,000 to Florida's Republican Party on June 24, 2025, for a $1.1 million contract for "operational support services in support of migration efforts in the State," followed by two more contracts with Florida, totaling over $5 million, for site shuttles, armory systems, on-site emergency services and air operations at the Ochopee site.[60] IRG is an offshoot of Access Restoration Services US, Inc., a major campaign donor to DeSantis and totaling nearly $400,000 in donations to Republican coffers.[61]

In early August 2025, the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed reception of a grant application from state officials, later evaluated as a US$1.49 billion grant.[64] In August 15, federal officials provided the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) with instructions related to the use of US$608 million funds.[65] Its legality has been questioned by a coalition of 67 members of Congress, led by Jeff Merkley and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.[66]

As of August 29, 2025, the State of Florida had incurred $218 million of sunk costs for the construction of the facility.[67]

On December 30, 2025, Trump vetoed the bipartisan Miccosukee Reserved Area Act citing the immigration detention facility. The act would have transferred 30 acres of land in the Everglades to control by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians. Commenting on Trump's veto on returning tribal lands, Matthew Fletcher, a law professor at the University of Michigan said, "It's ironic, right? You're acquiring land that your colonizer probably took from you a long time ago and then gave it away to or sold it to someone else, and then years later, you're buying that land back that was taken from you illegally, at a great expense."[68]

State records show that $34 million in public dollars had been spent on technology and IT support by April 2026, when the Florida Division of Emergency Management said the only way they could add phones as required by a judge, would be to spend another $180,000 up front plus $6,000 weekly. The DEM also reported having spent millions of dollars in legal fees statewide for immigration detention over three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on private jet flights to and from the facility and food products.[69]

In February 2026, Florida House Republicans, led by Griff Griffits of Panama City Beach, introduced a successful bill, supported by Democrats, that prohibits the use of Florida emergency funding for the camp, reserving the funds only for natural disasters.[70] According to Transparency Florida, a government accountability website, FDEM filed a budget amendment May 6 notifying payments of $45.3 million out of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund for invoices of the 2025-2026 year, before the bill passed in the Legislature. In total, FDEM has spent $458.5 million in emergency funds on immigration enforcement in the past financial year.[71]

On May 7, 2026, The New York Times reported that federal and state officials were debating whether to close the facility owing to its high operational costs. It reported that a promised reimbursement worth $608 million by the federal government for Florida to run the facility for a year had not been received by Florida officials.[12][72][73]

According to interviews in May 2026 by the The San Juan Daily Star newspaper, some private vendors hired by the state for the site's operations have been struggling to front costs as some invoices have not been paid in over 200 days.[74]

According to state documents, the Critical Response Strategies (CRS) company has billed the state $496,080 to pay the annual salary of a camp manager, $959,088 for an assistant camp manager, and $687,856 for a warden. The television station Action News Jax found that CRS was linked to a Jacksonville firm, Caplin Ventures. Its chairman is linked to about $86,000 in donations to political groups supporting DeSantis.[75]

It was announced in June 2026 that the facility was to permanently shut down.[32]

People previously detained

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According to ICE data as of April 2026, the center held nearly 1,400 detainees, all men, and two-thirds of those detained were classified as noncriminal.[12] The first group of detainees arrived on July 3, 2025[76] Director Kerner testified that "detainees were there solely on immigration violations, none on state criminal charges."[77] A review of official records revealed that people detained at the facility included Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients[78] and persons on student visas, including Hari Koneru from India whose lawyer Anna Weiser declared he does not have an order of removal.[79]

Fathers of some of the more than 146,000 US citizen children whose parents were recently detained by ICE have been at the camp, including Romeo Perez, who arrived in the US over 25 years ago and has been detained since fall 2025.[80] The government cannot legally detain U.S. citizen minors with their parents or deport them.[81] One anonymous father was detained and separated from his daughter for six months despite the class action decision protecting families from separation Ms. L v. U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, according to Kelly Kribs, an attorney with the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.[82] Some parents have current or expired Temporary Protected Status. According to Immigration attorney Patricia Elizee, these people may be eligible to seek legal status through immigration court if they had been in the US for more than 10 years and have a family member who is a U.S. citizen or a green card holder.[83] One such person is Justo Betancourt, the Cuban single father of US citizen, Arianne, who works for The Workers Circle, the organization coordinating weekly vigils at the camp's gates.[84][85] Betancourt was released on May 15, 2026 after six months of detention because his attorneys proved he was wrongfully detained.[86] A deported Haitian with TPS status was brought back to the USA after two weeks, his lawyer Alexandra Friz-Garcia stating, “Brulan’s case is a reminder that due process matters, once we demonstrated that his removal was unlawful, we fought to return him and reunite him with his family. No one should be deported in violation of the law.”[87]

Detained people include spouses of US citizens. Allan Dabrio Marrero was detained during a scheduled United States Citizenship and Immigration Services greencard interview and adjustment of status interview, a step toward permanent residency after immigrating from the Cayman Islands and then marrying his husband, Matthew, in 2023. He was detained in several sites for 150 days before Envision Freedom Fund, a nonprofit group that pays immigration bonds, posted a $6,000 bail. Dabrio Marrero stated, "The transfers that occurred every night took a physical toll. This is where they would chain your ankles connected to your waist, connected to your wrists for up to eight hours at a time and could last up to three days, not knowing where you were going."[88]

According to a list of the population obtained by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald in mid-July, more than 95% of the detainees held at the site originated from Latin American countries. Approximately 20% of the population are Guatemalan citizens, ~20% Mexican citizens, and another ~10% Cuban citizens.[89] The New York Times reported that non-citizens from Cuba have been detained at the camp and deported at record numbers, including those seeking the right of asylum.[90] Green card holder Douglas Dixon, one of at least two Canadians detained at the camp, declared, "They're treating people like animals. Alligator Alcatraz is like (Nazi) Germany in 1939, updated with 2026 rules."[91] South African of TV reality show and former lawyer, Peet Viljoen, who previously praised Trump and echoed claims about so-called “white genocide” in South Africa, was later transferred to the California City Detention Facility.[92]

In October 2025, The Miami Herald,[93] as well as detainees' family and lawyers,[94] reported that the whereabouts of about two-thirds of over 1,800 detainees held at the facility in July could not be determined.[20] DeSantis said that 22,000 persons had been processed and deported between July 2025 and May 2026.[95]

Court-ordered release or bond hearing

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Court-ordered immediate release

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On April 1, 2026, Judge Sheri Polster Chappell of the US District Court of the Fort Myers Division ordered the immediate release of Noel Traba Ramirez, who had filed for asylum from Cuba, esteeming that "ICE clearly exceeded its statutory authority when it designated him for expedited removal." [96] Following his petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, Judge Polster Chappell ordered, on April 9, 2026, the immedate release of Jose Alberto Molina, a native of Cuba who was paroled into the United States in 2004.[97] U.S. District Judge Kyle Dudek also referred to Habeas Corpus when ordering Justo Betancourt's release from ICE custody within 48 hours on May 13, 2026.[98] On May 15, 2026, Adrian Cambara Ortiz, originally from Cuba, was also immediately released by the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division, after five months of detention.[99]

Senior United States Judge John E. Steele ordered the immediate release on May 18, 2026 of the Cuban-born Jose Miguel Bello Valdez and of Gabriel Antonio Perez Romero, on June 3, 2026, citing their refusal of deportation to Mexico and the US Supreme Court case Zadvydas v. Davis.[100] The Cuban-born Gabriel Antonio Perez Romero was initially detained in November 2025 by ICE during a regularly scheduled reporting appointment and taken to the San Ysidro, San Diego port of entry in January 2026, before court-ordered release.[101] Of Cuban origin, Ricardo Rodriguez refused to cross the Mexican border in February and April 2026, before court-ordered release in June 2026.[102]

When ordering the immediate release of Alejandro Osvaldo Ghysels Reales, a recipient of a U visa for victims of crimes (and their immediate family members) who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse while in the U.S. and who are willing to assist law enforcement and government officials, U.S. District Judge Kyle C. Cohen noted, “The Government simply scooped up a man protected by an active grant of deferred action, locked him in a cell, and submitted a brief to this Court that pretends the protection does not exist".[103]

Bond hearings

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On July 23, 2025, the bond hearing of green card holder and U.S. permanent resident since 2000, Gonzalo Almanza, father of an 8-year old US citizen, was abruptly cancelled without notice, a pattern reportedly affecting other detainees.[104] On May 11, 2026, U.S. District Judge Dudek found that plaintif Omar Felipe Suarez Reye is not entitled to immediate release but is entitled to a bond hearing for release.[105] On May 13, 2026, Tomas Rubio Rincon, who arrived from Mexico over twenty years ago, was ordered to be immediately released or granted a bond hearing within ten days for release, in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act.[106]

Vargas Sergi lawfully entered the US from Venezuela in 2015 and applied for asylum in 2016. Married and the father of two children, he has an authorization to work. ICE arrested him in April 2026 and an immigration judge denied his release during a bond hearing citing traffic tickets, a possible boat-registration issue and a "danger to the community". A court ordered his immediate release in June 2026 judging that he is neither a flight risk, nor a danger to the community.[107]

Reports of inhumane treatment

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Detainees have reported harsh conditions at the facility, citing limited access to water, insufficient food, and restrictions on the practice of their religion.[108] Detainees have described unsanitary conditions, including wastewater overflows and insect infestations, as well as inadequate access to medical care.[109] The area on which the facility is located is also subject to frequent bouts of extreme weather, including yearly hurricanes, heavy rainfall, and high heat.[110]

On July 21, The Guardian described the facility, as well as Krome and a Miami jail, as being at the center of "a succession of alleged abuses at jails operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) in the state since January, chronicled by the advocacy groups Human Rights Watch, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Sanctuary of the South from interviews with detainees".[111] A month later, the outlet described reports of inhumane treatment and brutality at the camp as being commonplace.[112]

On July 22, people detained on site began a hunger strike to protest what they consider to be inhumane and dangerous living conditions.[113] Some detainees reported maggots in the food and having to "dig the fecal matter out of the toilets with their bare hands" for lack of plumbing. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has denied the claims, but no independent inspections have been allowed.[114]

On August 29, three detainees said an uprising occurred at the facility in phone calls to Miami's Spanish language news channel Noticias 23. The incident allegedly occurred after several detainees shouted "freedom" after one received news a relative had died. The detainees described guards as indiscriminately beating detainees with batons and firing tear gas. The Florida Division of Emergency Management denied reports that the events had occurred.[112]

In December 2025, the report "Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Krome in Florida" published by Amnesty International concluded that the camp's conditions, including routine and prolonged use of shackles and retention in a "box" described as a 2x2 foot cage-like structure "constitutes torture".[115]

In 2026, an investigation over reports of abuse at the Everglades tent facility was filed by U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Dick Durbin of Illinois, focusing on allegations of torture.[116] After an unannounced visit in April 2026, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stated, everything about this detention camp "screams inhumane and unnecessary."[117] Controversy continues related to possible federal funding[118] for this first state-run facility within the context of immigration to the United States and deaths during ICE detention.[119][120]

The Miami Herald's review of one year of emergency calls to 911 by concerned family and friends detail a lack of medical attention within the camp and a lack of communication about medical emergencies.[121]

Political responses

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After the facility's announcement, the Republican Party of Florida marketed "Alligator Alcatraz" merchandise, including hats, shirts, and koozies with AI-generated images, while the state of Florida also handed out "official Alligator Alcatraz merch" to conservative influencers.[11] Critics found the fundraising pitch cruel and inaccurate as hundreds of people being held there are not facing any criminal charges and the facility could be described as a concentration camp.[122] Florida state Representative Angela Nixon called it a "modern-day concentration camp", explaining, “Donald Trump‘s blueprint for America has now become barbed wire and broken families.”[123]

On July 2, Janelle Bynum, Maxwell Alejandro Frost and 22 other members of Congress wrote to Noem deploring that "detainees will be kept in tents with inadequate sanitation facilities and will face unbearable living conditions," including "exposure to deadly pathogens, constant threats from unpredictable flooding and extreme weather events, and daily temperatures averaging 90 degrees, with a heat index often over 100 degrees Fahrenheit."[124]

In July, state Representative Anna Eskamani and state Senator Shevrin Jones joined lawmakers in suing DeSantis in order to gain access to the site. After their visit, they deplored the sanitary conditions, with Eskamani stating that the detention camp is "a political stunt with environmental damage and everyday lives being harmed. It needs to close immediately."[125]

Following an on-site visit on July 12, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz described the detainees as "essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans, 32 detainees per cage". Congressional and state lawmakers on-site reportedly heard cries of libertad, meaning "freedom" in Spanish, from detainees. Lawmakers were not permitted to view the entire facility.[126]

Representative Dan Goldman of New York, where ICE is a contentious topic, aided in the release of some 30 people on May 6, 2026, including at least one detained in the Everglades, stating, "our immigration system is being weaponized against those simply trying to follow the rules" and that he will "continue to use every tool in Congress to fight back and push for true accountability and reform."[127]

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Native American tribal rights

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Miccosukee Tribe Chairman Talbert Cypress testified in a recent lawsuit that this is not the first time the tribe has had to fight for its land and rights, affirming, "we will always stand up for our culture, our sovereignty, and for the Everglades"[128] There are 15 remaining traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages, recognised as Indigenous people of the Everglades region, in Big Cypress, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites, Cypress testified before Congress in 2024."We live here. Our ancestors fought and died here. They are buried here," he said. "The Big Cypress is part of us, and we are a part of it."[129] The Seminole Tribe of Florida was likewise in opposition citing sacred lands.[130][131]

Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez of Florida sponsored a bill in July 2025 which would have transferred 30 acres of land in the Everglades to control by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians in order to avert "catastrophic flooding" and referring to the Miccosukee Tribe as "stewards of the Everglades." The Act reflected years of "bipartisan work and was intended to clarify land status and support basic protections for tribal members who have lived in this area for generations," wrote Chairman Cypress. According to Kevin Washburn, a law professor at University of California Berkeley Law, "It is rare for an administration to veto a bill for reasons wholly unrelated to the merits of the bill." Washburn added that while denying land return to a tribe is a political act, Trump's move is "highly unusual."[132] On December 30, 2025, Trump vetoed the bipartisan Miccosukee Reserved Area Act citing the immigration detention facility.

The facility casts bright lights across sacred tribal lands where the Miccosukee people have conducted their annual Green Corn Ceremony for many generations. The intense illumination disrupts the tribe's spiritual practices and the delicate nocturnal ecosystem that depends on natural light cycles.[133]

Environmental challenge and injunction

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In June 2025, Betty Osceola, a Miccosukee tribal judge and member of the Everglades Advisory Committee, organized Indigenous-led prayer gatherings and public demonstrations to highlight environmental and cultural concerns. Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Business Council, noted that no environmental impact research had been done and that some Native villages were within 900 feet (270 m) of the camp's entrance.[134]

On June 27, 2025, a coalition led by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, represented by Earthjustice and attorney Paul Schwiep, filed suit in a federal court seeking an injunction until a full environmental review and public-comment period are completed.[135] Plaintiffs argue that the project threatens the habitat of endangered species, including that of the Florida panther and the Florida bonneted bat, and violates both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and tribal cultural-resource protections.[136]

On August 7, 2025, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams temporarily halted construction at the facility for two weeks, while she considered if the detention center violates environmental laws. Witnesses testified that 20 acres (8 hectares) of new asphalt had been laid, while temporary tents, trailers, and other heavy equipment were at the airport.[137] Located in tropical wetlands, its infrastructure and sewage may be sources of both water pollution and light pollution.

Judge Williams later granted a preliminary injunction on August 21 that prohibits the government from transferring any additional detainees to the site or performing any more construction work. She also ordered the Trump administration to remove temporary fencing, industrial lighting, generators, sewage and waste receptacles from the site within 60 days.[138] Uthmeier stated that they plan to keep the ICE facility running, despite the court order.[139]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in a 2–1 decision early September, first stayed the injunction pending appeal, stating that because the federal government had yet to reimburse Florida's costs, federal law (the NEPA, which requires an environmental impact study) did not apply.[140] The State's request for federal reimbursement had been submitted on August 7, 2025, which it did not inform the courts of.[141] The Appellate Court granted a second stay, citing the government shutdown.[142] On August 14, Friends of the Everglades filed suit to access Florida's undisclosed records of government financing for the camp under the Government in the Sunshine Act.[143] In April 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the federal government could skip environmental review as the facility, considering it to be not "federally controlled", making it the first circuit court to rule on amendments Congress added to the National Environmental Policy Act in 2023.[144]

In March 2026, a state-commissioned environmental assessment report raised concerns about emissions of air pollutants exceeding regulatory thresholds of the Clean Air Act, including carbon monoxide and particulate matter from vehicle use and continuously running generators.[145] On May 26, 2026, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit for what it terms as "substantial, unpermitted pollution from diesel generators and other air-polluting equipment", that could lead to civil penalties for Florida of up to $124,426 per day of violation. The air pollutants harm human health and the environment, including benzene, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.[146]

Civil liberties challenges

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On July 16, 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice filed a class action suit claiming the Trump administration violates the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights of people being detained, as well as the First Amendment rights of legal service organizations and law firms with clients held at the facility.[147] The civil rights groups' lawsuit alleges detainees are being held without charges and are not being given access to their attorneys.[148] As part of this lawsuit that also contests the federal cancellation of bond hearings, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz has requested all written agreements and contracts showing who has legal custody of the hundreds of detainees.[149]

Immigration attorneys described the facility's alternate system as a place "where the normal rules don't apply." Gov. Ron DeSantis falsely stated on July 25 that "Everybody here is already on a final removal order," a lie repeated by his director of emergency management, Kevin Guthrie.[150] Internal data show that the vast majority of detainees did not have final orders of removal from a judge before entering the facility (nearly 70% did not[151]), but they may have been deported as the facility's population fell to below 400 late August.[152]

In January 2026, a former detainee from the camp deported to Colombia and a second who had requested asylum was deported to Haiti both testified before a District judge that the camp agents did not respect their right to legal counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[153] In April, lawyer Katherine Blankenship accused state and federal officials of failing to comply with a federal judge's preliminary injunction allowing detainees to phone their lawyer. Blankenship also declared that camp guards severely beat and pepper-sprayed detainees.[154]

Deportation to third countries

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Andy Pierre fled dangerous conditions in Haiti in 1989 and was granted a US "Convention Against Torture Visa," allowing him to remain in the United States legally. His lawyer, Troy Harris, is pursuing a reversal of his recent deportation. Pierre declared that ICE agents twice transferred him to the Mexican border without paperwork, but he refused to cross the border illegally. Mexico also refused the entry to Mexico of the US legal permanent resident of Cuban origin, Fredy Hernandez Espinosa. Hernandez Espinosa alleged that immigration officers are encouraging detainees not to sign documents—presumably to create a case for non-cooperation. A court ordered his immediate release.[155] Yael Schacher of Refugees International, said, "What we found is Mexico didn't agree to take these folks, like people from far from the border, like people from Florida."[156] Since mid-2025, ICE has adopted coercive tactics in violation of U.S. law in its effort to deport third country nationals to Mexico. A Guatemalan man, who arrived in the United States in 1990 after his father had been kidnapped and killed, was told he would be sent to "Alligator Alcatraz" if he refused to accept removal to Mexico.[157]

The Cuban national, Rogelio Bolufé, also detained at Delaney Hall in Newark, organized a hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center in Washington state. ICE then deported him to a dangerous city in Ecuador despite his active immigration proceeding. According to Bolufé, “They removed me from the country without prior warning, without having signed any document and without adequately explaining what was happening. I was left alone with the gray uniform of my detention, without additional clothing, without money, without a single form of identification, without a cell phone for me to communicate and without knowing anyone in Guayaquil.”[158]

According to Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night, a history of concentration camps, these deportations and those from Camp East Montana in Texas are integral to an increase in domestic and international concentration camps.[159]

Public response

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Critics compare the facility to Nazi concentration camps, referring to it as "Alligator Auschwitz"[160] while others situate it within American concentration camps, including the internment of German Americans, the internment of Italian Americans, and the internment of Japanese Americans[161] at Manzanar and elsewhere. Members of the Republican Party, including DeSantis,[162] have defended the facility, arguing it will help the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to cope with the deportation policy of the federal government.[163] The camp has been labeled a "black hole" following the irregular disappearance of detainees.[164] Alex Padilla, Dick Durbin and other Democratic U.S. Senators mentioned the camp in their open letter about the increase in deaths during ICE detention.[165]

At a weekly vigil at the camp entrance on September 21, Amy Fischer, Director of Refugee and Migrant Rights at Amnesty International USA, called the facility "a human rights disaster."[166] Amnesty International launched a campaign to shut down the site on July 23 in response to unsanitary conditions, lack of medical care, and minimal access to lawyers, considering that it "sets a dangerous precedent for how states can partner with the federal government to expand the reach of its mass detention and deportation machine."[167] "Amnesty International considers that detention conditions at both facilities amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The use of prolonged solitary confinement at Krome and the use of the 'box' at "Alligator Alcatraz" amount to torture or other ill-treatment."[168]

Public opinion

[edit]

Polling on July 4, 2025, by YouGov found that 48% of Americans polled opposed the detention center, with 33% supporting it and 18% unsure, while 53% of independents polled opposed the facility.[169] In their poll on July 20, 28% of women and 42% of men approved the camp.[170] A poll among Florida voters from July 25 to 27 found that 34% of Floridians held a favorable opinion and 59% saying they disapprove of using the state of Florida's taxpayer-funded Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to cover costs.[171]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The moniker alludes to both the local American alligator population and the former maximum-security Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Salomon, Gisela. (June 18, 2026) All detainees from immigration facility ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ have been transferred, DHS says. AP Press.
  2. ^ Goñi-Lessan, Ana (August 14, 2025). "Florida to open second immigration detention facility, 'Deportation Depot'". USA Today.
  3. ^ a b Borresen, Jennifer; Loehrke, Janet; Beard, Stephen J.; Sullivan, Shawn J.; Petras, George (August 22, 2025). "Will Alligator Alcatraz close? Here's a look inside the controversial detention center". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 26, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025. It began as a nickname, but Florida officials are calling the detention center Alligator Alcatraz, though its official name is still the South Florida Detention Facility.
  4. ^ Bridges, C.A. (August 8, 2025). "Judge stops work at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz.' What are they building there?". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  5. ^ Krueger, Krisiti; Forney, Terrell. (June 17, 2026) All detainees moved out of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Local 10 News.
  6. ^ "Detainees will move out of 'Alligator Alcatraz,' facility to shut down by June, source says". NBC 6 South Florida. May 12, 2026. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  7. ^ "Alligator Alcatraz Could Shut Down in June". Center for Biological Diversity. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  8. ^ "Florida Everglades "Alligator Alcatraz" Staying Put Despite Price Tag, Fire Risks". Tampa Free Press. May 14, 2026. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  9. ^ Grant, Melissa Gira. "The Grand Opening of an American Concentration Camp". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  10. ^ Fields, Ashleigh. (July 2, 2025) Florida state rep: Trump building ‘modern-day concentration camps’ The Hill.
  11. ^ a b c Ceballos, Ana (July 1, 2025). "Alligator Alcatraz is no nickname. It's detention camp's official name". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e Mazzei, Patricia; Aleaziz, Hamed (May 7, 2026). "Federal and State Officials Discuss Closing Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  13. ^ Dasgupta, Shirsho (August 22, 2025) Alligator Alcatraz contractors have links to allegations of fraud, price-gouging. Miami Herald. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  14. ^ Payne, Kate (July 17, 2025). "Emails show DeSantis administration blindsided county officials with plans for 'Alligator Alcatraz'". Yahoo News.
  15. ^ a b Dixon, Matt; Gutierrez, Gabe (July 1, 2025). "'Alligator Alcatraz' immigrant detention facility opens, with Trump in attendance". NBC News. Archived from the original on July 1, 2025. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  16. ^ Gisela Salomon (June 11, 2026) Florida immigration arrests have quietly surged, with state and local agencies at the forefront. News6-Orlando.
  17. ^ Krueger, Krisiti; Forney, Terrell (June 17, 2026) Reporter All detainees moved out of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Local 10 News.
  18. ^ Payne, Kate. (March 1, 2026) New records show Florida officials burned more than $1.2 million per day on ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: Florida initially sought $1.4 billion from the feds for Alligator Alcatraz. FloridaTrib.
  19. ^ Luscombe, Richard. (October 2, 2025) Husband of judge who blocked 'Alligator Alcatraz' shutdown has ties to DeSantis. The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
  20. ^ a b Luscombe, Richard (October 7, 2025). "Alligator Alcatraz snaps back to life after judges' reprieve of Florida's migrant jail". The Guardian. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  21. ^ "Groups Sue Trump Administration Over Lack of Access to Counsel for People Held at Florida's Notorious Everglades Immigration Detention Center". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  22. ^ "Protesters line highway in Florida Everglades to oppose 'Alligator Alcatraz'". Associated Press. June 28, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  23. ^ a b AP (August 6, 2025) "Judge considers whether Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center violates environmental law" Spectrum News. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  24. ^ Payne, Kate; Anderson, Curt (June 27, 2025). "Environmental groups sue to block migrant detention center rising in Florida Everglades". AP News. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  25. ^ Rosa, Amanda (July 20, 2025). "Miccosukee Tribe moves to join environmental lawsuit against Alligator Alcatraz". Miami Herald. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  26. ^ Justica U.S. Law. (April 1, 2026) Ramirez v. South Florida Detention Facility (Collier County), No. 2:2026cv00801 - Document 10 (M.D. Fla. 2026) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA, FORT MYERS DIVISION.
  27. ^ Bichell, Rae Ellen, Claire Galofaro, Maia Rosenfeld, Renuka Rayasam, Aaron Kessler, Byron Tau (June 2, 2026). From festering infections to cancer, ICE detainees describe medical neglect. NBC Bay Area.
  28. ^ Ndonwie, Churchill (June 11, 2026) What a year of 911 calls reveal about Alligator Alcatraz. Miami Herald.
  29. ^ Caputo, Liz. (February 16, 2026) 'For natural disasters only': House bill blocks dollars for 'Alligator Alcatraz' Florida Phoenix.
  30. ^ Walker, Heather; Hall, Darcelle. (May 5, 2026). Detainee at 'Alligator Alcatraz' says US officials took him to Mexican border without paperwork, approval from Mexican authorities. 7News Miami.
  31. ^ Roncallo, Claire. (24 January 2026) "Alcatraz in the Everglades: A Legal and Humanitarian Crisis" Immigration and Human Rights Law Review.
  32. ^ a b DeFede, Jim (June 22, 2026). "Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" shutting down permanently, sources say". CBS News. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  33. ^ Freeman, Paul. "Everglades Jetport / Dade Collier Training & Transition Airport (TNT), Everglades, FL". Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  34. ^ "Big Cypress". Nps.gov. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  35. ^ National Park Service, James A. Goss, Usual and Customary Use by the Miccosukee and Seminole Indians in Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, National Park Service, 1995, pp. 4-5
  36. ^ Chesnes, Max. (July 18, 2025) Darkness is crucial to Everglades habitat. Could Alligator Alcatraz threaten it? Artificial light in a world-renowned "dark sky" preserve is just one of the environmental and human health concerns surrounding the facility. Tampa Bay Times Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  37. ^ Walters, Joanna (May 28, 2025). "Denied, detained, deported: the faces of Trump's immigration crackdown". The Guardian. Retrieved September 22, 2025. "The administration has torn up the rulebook as it seeks to implement a hardline agenda to expel people from the US."
  38. ^ Kim, Seung Min (June 10, 2025). "President Donald Trump pushes ahead with his maximalist immigration campaign in face of LA protests". The Associated Press. Retrieved June 12, 2025. Donald Trump made no secret of his willingness to exert a maximalist approach to enforcing immigration laws and keeping order as he campaigned to return to the White House.
  39. ^ Graziosi, Graig (September 8, 2024). "Trump says his plan to expel millions of immigrants will be a 'bloody story'". The Independent. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  40. ^ Brownstein, Ronald (February 8, 2024). "Trump's 'Knock on the Door'". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 10, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  41. ^ Chung, Andrew (June 2, 2025). "Trump gets key wins at Supreme Court on immigration, despite some misgivings". Reuters. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  42. ^ American Immigration Council (July 1, 2025). "Senate Approves Unprecedented Spending for Mass Deportation, Ignoring What's Broken in our Immigration System". Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  43. ^ Payne, Kate. (March 1, 2026) New records show Florida officials burned more than $1.2 million per day on ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: Florida initially sought $1.4 billion from the feds for Alligator Alcatraz. FloridaTrib.
  44. ^ WUSF. (May 12, 2026) Florida immigration enforcement costs were nearly $460M within the past year. WUSF.
  45. ^ Caputo, Liz. (February 16, 2026) 'For natural disasters only': House bill blocks dollars for 'Alligator Alcatraz' Florida Phoenix.
  46. ^ Ceballos, Ana; Ellenbogen, Romy; Harris, Alex (June 28, 2025). "DeSantis used his emergency powers to get 'Alligator Alcatraz' built". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on June 29, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
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  49. ^ Grant, Melissa Gira. "The Grand Opening of an American Concentration Camp". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  50. ^ Schneider, Mike. Officials withheld evidence on Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' funding, environmental groups sayAP (January 8, 2026).
  51. ^ Bridges, C.A. (August 29, 2025). "Why is 'Alligator Alcatraz' closing? What Florida immigrant detention center cost". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  52. ^ U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (not dated) Florida Soft Sided Facility South
  53. ^ Bridges, C.A. (July 8, 2025). "Is Alligator Alcatraz the official name of the Florida immigrant detention center?". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved August 30, 2025. "Alligator Alcatraz" is official.
  54. ^ "Alligator Alcatraz has opened in the Florida Everglades. Here are some takeaways". Miami Herald. July 6, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  55. ^ Putterman, Samantha; Ramirez Uribe, Maria. (July 30, 2025) DeSantis said ‘everybody’ at Alligator Alcatraz has a deportation order. Lawyers say he’s wrong. PolitiFact.
  56. ^ Chavez, Juan Carlos. (May 23, 2026) Lawyers say Alligator Alcatraz detainee transfers are ramping up. Tampa Bay Times.
  57. ^ Payne, Kate. (March 4, 2026) "New records show Florida officials burned more than $1.2 million per day on 'Alligator Alcatraz'" The Florida Tribune and WGCU News.
  58. ^ Cooper, Julia (July 7, 2025). "Miami's first Cuban-born Mayor speaks out against 'Alligator Alcatraz'" WLRN Public Media. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  59. ^ Ndonwie, Churchill (July 24, 2025) "Contracts reveal the big business of building and operating Alligator Alcatraz" Miami Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  60. ^ a b Ellenbogen, Romy (July 12, 2025) Company's Alligator Alcatraz contracts followed donation to the Florida GOP Miami Herald. retrieved August 14, 2025.
  61. ^ a b Bob Norman, Bob & DeMarco, Michelle (July 4, 2025) Big DeSantis campaign donor set to reap millions from 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention camp. Orlando Weekly. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  62. ^ Ceballos, Ana; Ellenbogen, Romy; Harris, Alex (June 28, 2025). "DeSantis used his emergency powers to get 'Alligator Alcatraz' built". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on June 29, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
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  65. ^ FRIENDS OF THE EVERGLADES, INC., et al., v. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, Case No. 25-12873, Document 90, filed on 01/07/2026.
  66. ^ "Public letter signed by 67 members of Congress to Kristi Noem et al on August 20, 2025" (PDF).
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  79. ^ Putterman, Samantha; Ramirez Uribe, Maria. (July 30, 2025) DeSantis said ‘everybody’ at Alligator Alcatraz has a deportation order. Lawyers say he’s wrong. PolitiFact.
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  84. ^ The Workers Circle. Freedom Vigils
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  162. ^ Watson, Kathryn (July 1, 2025). "Trump tours "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention center in Florida - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  163. ^ Hutchinson, Bill (June 29, 2025). "Florida AG proposes 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant detention center in Everglades". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  164. ^ Fernández, Abel (18 September 2025) The mysterious disappearance of hundreds of immigrants detained at Alligator Alcatraz. EL PAÍS USA Edition.
  165. ^ Durbin, Dicke et al. (February 17, 2026) Padilla, Durbin, Senate Democrats Sound Alarm on Dramatic Increase in Deaths in Immigration Detention Press Release.
  166. ^ Bustos, R. Sergio. (September 21, 2025) "Religious leaders, Amnesty International USA hold vigil to call for Alligator Alcatraz's closure" WLRN Public Media. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
  167. ^ Amnesty International. USA: Shut down "alligator alcatraz" Retrieved October 4, 2025.
  168. ^ "Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at "Alligator Alcatraz" and Krome in Florida". Amnesty International USA. December 4, 2025.
  169. ^ Sommerlad, Joe (July 4, 2025). "Almost half of Americans disapprove of Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz', new poll shows". The Independent. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
  170. ^ Gancarski, A. G. (July 15, 2025). "Poll: 'Alligator Alcatraz' scores with Republicans, riles independents and Dems". Florida Politics. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  171. ^ The Florida Communications and Research Hub (July 30, 2025). NEW POLL: Floridians Unfavorable to 'Alligator Alcatraz,' Concerned About Taxpayer Cost. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
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