Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” Everglades immigration detention center—opened in July 2025—was always meant to be temporary and is now being closed. The facility had earlier been emptied in June due to hurricane-season concerns, while im
Trucks kept rolling through the Florida Everglades facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” throughout August 2025, but by Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis brought the experiment to a definitive end.
The governor said the makeshift immigration detention center—heralded by the Trump administration and denounced as inhumane by civil rights groups—has served its purpose and is being closed for good. DeSantis spoke at a news conference at the facility. calling it a temporary bridge that was only ever supposed to last until federal officials could secure more permanent detention 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.
The facility opened in July 2025. DeSantis said it was always intended to be temporary, and officials now have the ability to move people elsewhere.
Earlier this month, the decision was already underway. Officials announced a temporary closure in June, sending all detainees to other facilities. They said hurricane season made it unsafe to keep people in the Everglades.
DeSantis also sought to emphasize what will continue after the closure. He said the Everglades airstrip the facility was built around will remain in use.
For immigration advocates, the closure does not change the core accusation: that the tents and trailers were never fit for the months-long reality of detention.
Detainees described difficulty accessing lawyers and poor physical conditions. including worms found in the food. toilets that didn’t flush. floors flooded with fecal waste. and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere. They said large white tents held rows of bunk beds surrounded by chain-link cages. They described air conditioning that could shut off abruptly in Florida’s heat. Detainees also said they could go days without showering or getting prescription medicine.
Advocates say the harm doesn’t end simply because officials moved people out. They argued that closing “Alligator Alcatraz” does nothing to stop the suffering already inflicted on people held while their families endure months in custody.
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.
DeSantis, by contrast, framed the facility as part of a deportation mission. He said the center helped make Florida safer and pointed to 21,000 people deported through the facility.
Even with the facility closed, Florida is still central to the broader enforcement effort, officials say. At the same Thursday news conference. White House border czar Tom Homan said the state would keep playing a key role with other detention centers and an increased role in helping with immigration enforcement.
“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 the relationship. This is a continuation.”
That “continuation” is already visible in how the detainees were moved earlier this month. Lawyers for 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 will keep operating.
The question now shifts from detention logistics to what was built—and what was supposedly done without oversight.
Environmental groups sued over the detention center, saying Florida officials never got the proper permits or completed required reviews on its impact.
Paul J. Schwiep, an attorney for Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement Thursday that the state and federal governments built the site with no oversight and closed it with no input, but would still be held responsible.
“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.
Taken together, DeSantis’s decision and Homan’s insistence that the broader system continues suggest a closure that ends a facility’s days in the Everglades without answering the complaints tied to its construction, its conditions, and the legal battles now heading to court.
Ron DeSantis Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention Everglades Tom Homan hurricane season deportations Florida Immigrant Coalition Friends of the Everglades Center for Biological Diversity
So they finally closed it? I guess hurricanes are the only thing that matters, huh.
I heard it was called “Alligator Alcatraz” and honestly that sounds like a gimmick from the start. Like temporary means “until the cameras stop,” right?
Wait what, did they close it because the alligators got inside or something? I saw a clip earlier saying people were fighting bugs and stuff. Also “airstrip remains” like… why is that still a thing if it’s done?
The whole thing sounds messed up. If there were worms in the food and toilets not flushing, that’s beyond “temporary” excuses. DeSantis says it served its purpose but what purpose exactly besides proving a point? And now they say they can move people elsewhere like that magically fixes what happened.