Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center, built in the Florida swamps, is closing after nearly a year of holding thousands of illegal immigrants, according to Governor Ron DeSantis.
Temporary Facility
DeSantis stated that the center was always intended to be temporary and that federal officials now have the capacity to handle detention and deportation in more permanent facilities. The goal was to have the facility open for about a year until more permanent detention centers could be secured.
Immigration advocates criticized the facility, saying it was never safe or humane to hold people. Detainees reported difficulties accessing lawyers and described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that didn’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, and President Trump visited the site. DeSantis and Trump said the detention center was critical to Republican efforts to return people in the country illegally back to their home countries. The Republican governor said 21,000 people were deported through the facility.
Original reporting: WTVQ (Lexington) — read the source article.
