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Detention Center 'Alligator Alcatraz' Used Small Metal Cages for Immigrants, DHS Report Finds
Confirmed
In Short: A now-shuttered detention center in Florida, known as 'Alligator Alcatraz,' confined immigrants in small metal cages for hours, according to a report from the US Department of Homeland Security's watchdog.
The facility, built over eight days in the Everglades in 2025, was run by state officials, not the federal government, according to DHS. Between July 2025 and January 2026, the facility kept 79 immigrants in these small enclosures. Detainees were denied necessary medication, regular showers, and clean drinking water, and were only allowed to use infested showers three times a week.
In a report, OIG inspectors noted that the facility did not provide sufficient living space, creating cramped conditions for detainees who spent most of their time in their housing units. Immigrants also reported that they did not have access to clean drinking water and could not clean the plastic cups from which they drank. The OIG is an independent internal watchdog at DHS.
The facility, which was built over the course of eight days in the Everglades, a protected wetland known for its alligators, was run by state officials. In a response to the OIG report, DHS officials stated that Florida, not the federal government, had authority over day-to-day operations at the facility. Despite this, ICE personnel were on site, and all detainees were given an ICE handbook that said Alligator Alcatraz 'is a facility of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
What's confirmed
- The facility, built over eight days in the Everglades in 2025, was run by state officials, not the federal government, according to DHS. Between July 2025 and January 2026, the facility kept 79 immigrants in these small enclosures. Detainees were denied necessary medication, regular showers, and clean drinking water, and were only allowed to use infested showers three times a week.
- In a report, OIG inspectors noted that the facility did not provide sufficient living space, creating cramped conditions for detainees who spent most of their time in their housing units. Immigrants also reported that they did not have access to clean drinking water and could not clean the plastic cups from which they drank. The OIG is an independent internal watchdog at DHS.
- The facility, which was built over the course of eight days in the Everglades, a protected wetland known for its alligators, was run by state officials. In a response to the OIG report, DHS officials stated that Florida, not the federal government, had authority over day-to-day operations at the facility. Despite this, ICE personnel were on site, and all detainees were given an ICE handbook that said Alligator Alcatraz 'is a facility of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
What's still developing
- The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found the use of the outdoor cages - about 18sq ft (1.67sq m) - was "unprecedented among detention facilities" and dangerous.
- Trump once joked that immigrants held there would need to learn "how to run away" from the reptiles at the facility, which civil rights groups have decried as inhumane.
- WASHINGTON — Some immigrants detained at Florida’s now-shuttered “Alligator Alcatraz” were confined in outdoor cages only slightly larger than telephone booths for more than an hour at a time, according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
- Amnesty International found in a report published in December, based on interviews with detainees and a tour of the facility, that the cages were used to punish detainees and amounted to torture, sparking a congressional probe.