Detainees from Florida’s notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail have been relocated to other facilities, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The detention facility in the remote Everglades, celebrated by Donald Trump for its harsh conditions, has been widely expected to close. It quickly attracted headlines for the brutal treatment of detainees after opening last year.
ICE announced on Tuesday that all detainees at the state-run site had been moved, but did not specify how many, or where they were taken.
The agency, NBC Miami reported, said: “As we enter into hurricane season, ICE and the state of Florida have moved illegal aliens from the soft sided facility. For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities.”
ICE did not immediately respond when contacted for comment by the Guardian.
The transfers come amid allegations of human rights abuses at the detention center. In a report published in December 2025, Amnesty International alleged that detainees were shackled inside a 2ft-high metal cage and left outdoors without water for extended periods.
According to the report, the cage was used as a form of arbitrary punishment. One detainee told Amnesty International: “One time, two people in my cell were calling out to the guards telling them that I needed my medication. Ten guards rushed into the cell and threw them to the ground. They were taken to the ‘box’ and punished just for trying to help me. I saw a guy who was put in it for an entire day.”
The jail, which opened in July 2025, costs Florida taxpayers an estimated $1.2m a day to operate, according to an investigation by the Florida Tributary.
In May, the New York Times reported that Florida plans to shut down the facility. Citing a federal official and three people familiar with the matter, the outlet said state officials told vendors that detainees would be transferred out at the beginning of June.
Speaking at a press conference last month, Florida governor Ron DeSantis said the state “didn’t build any permanent facilities down there, because we knew it was going to be temporary”, but did not provide a timeline for the closure.
Meanwhile, a Guardian report published earlier this month found that more than half a dozen detainees alleged they were given “rotten” water containing mosquito larvae. According to the detainees, prison guards used the allegedly spoiled water to pressure them into signing documents written in English that they could not understand.
Stephanie Hartman, a spokesperson for the Florida department of emergency management, which oversees the facility’s operations, said in a statement: “Medical facilities and staff, including a pharmacy, are available 24/7 to detainees.”
