‘Alligator Alcatraz’ suddenly shuttered following DHS auditor’s report

A first-of-its-kind state-run immigrant detention site in the Florida Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” shut down earlier this summer shortly after a team of federal auditors found the facility failed to meet a number of detention standards.A new Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report about the conditions inside the 1,500-bed tent facility in South Florida revealed the facility and employees engaged in detention practices that were out of line with federal and state norms.Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced on June 25 that the facility would be closing, citing weather-related concerns tied to hurricane season. The state and Immigration and Customs Enforcement partnered under the 287(g) partnership to work collaboratively to operate a detention facility that opened in July 2025. ICE took on the role of carrying out special immigration enforcement duties, as well as providing oversight “to ensure compliance with federal immigration law and ICE policies.” Immigration enforcement activities were also slated to be supervised and handled by ICE, not state police.However, federal auditors who visited the site in January found there was no clearly defined party in charge, leading to further confusion over whether the facility was supposed to adhere to federal immigration detention standards or state prison standards.“At the time of our inspection, [Florida Soft-Sided Facility] staff could not clearly identify which detention standards they used for holding detainees on immigration-related charges,” the federal report says. “The absence of well-defined standards at detention facilities increases the risk that detainees may not receive appropriate care.”The lack of clear standards led to “ambiguity” about what level of treatment, housing, and daily living conditions ought to be provided to those detained, according to the inspector general’s report.Meanwhile, DHS maintained it did not run daily operations at Alligator Alcatraz and that everything was under the purview of the state.As a result, detainees did not have access to commissary, family visitation, or recreation, such as televisions or playing cards.Auditors also found the facility failed to meet other standards, including environmental health and safety, medical care, food service, and personal hygiene.The facility also disciplined dozens of detainees by placing them inside a fenced area that was 4 feet wide by 4 feet long for periods of up to two hours. Dorm spaces were also roughly half the size that inmates are legally required to have access to.The cages were described in the government report as places for detainees to “reflect on their behavior choices, manage their emotions, reduce stress and practice self-directed behavior.”A DHS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Monday afternoon that Alligator Alcatraz was “consistent with the same federal detention standards employed by previous administrations, including Biden and Obama.”“All detainee facilities are clean, and any allegations of inhumane conditions or excessive use of force are FALSE,” the DHS spokesperson wrote in an email. “ICE does not have any detainees at the facility, and the DHS OIG indicated all recommendations have been administratively closed.”TOM HOMAN: ‘NO PLAN’ FOR ICE TO CONDUCT IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AT POLLING SITESDHS referred the Washington Examiner to Florida for further comment.“At least ten million illegal aliens entered our country under the Biden administration. Florida decided to do something about it. The left-wing media wants to focus on a confinement area for violent criminal aliens who have proven they cannot remain peaceful while awaiting deportation,” DeSantis’s communications director, Alex Lanfranconi, said in a statement. “While it adheres to all federal standards for criminal confinement, we’d make it even smaller if we could.”