The administration of US President Donald Trump announced on June 3 that it had transferred all detained immigrants out of a Florida detention facility commonly referred to as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, a move that effectively closes the controversial center.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the decision to relocate was made over concerns about the Atlantic hurricane season’s onset affecting the safety of detainees. 'For the safety of the illegal immigrants in detention, we have transferred them to other facilities,' DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis said. She did not specify the number of people moved, their destinations, nor whether the center would be permanently shut.
The facility is located within the Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, near the Everglades wetlands. Multiple unnamed officials told The New York Times in May that the center was too costly to maintain.
Named after the infamous island prison on San Francisco’s Alcatraz Island, ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ was introduced as a temporary facility that exploited the surrounding swamp environment to prevent escapes. When it opened in July 2025, President Trump toured the center alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Trump has pursued mass deportations of immigrants in his second term, while DeSantis has mobilized state resources to support the effort.
From its inception, the center drew criticism. Leaders of the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes opposed its construction, arguing it encroached on homes and ceremonial sites in the Everglades. Lawyers and human rights groups questioned whether temporary units could withstand the heat, heavy rain, and hurricanes typical of South Florida. Hurricane season runs from June through November.
Over its year of operation, Alligator Alcatraz became the subject of multiple lawsuits and human rights complaints. Detainees described being denied access to lawyers, receiving medical neglect, and being served food infested with worms. The government announced in May that it would begin moving detainees out.
Amy Godshall, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who had sued both state and federal authorities over the lack of legal services at the site, said: 'Moving people out of this cruel facility is an important step, but it does not erase the harm that was done. State and federal authorities must permanently close this facility and commit to never detaining anyone there again.'
The center was designed to hold up to 3,000 people, with an aluminum frame structure claimed to withstand winds equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. The relocation news came as the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season recorded its first named storm: Tropical Storm Arthur, currently in the Gulf of Mexico and expected to move toward Louisiana.
