DeSantis closes «Alligator Alcatraz» in the Everglades after some 21,000 deportations

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on June 25, 2026 the closure of the immigration center nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz", built at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition airport in the Everglades, about 80 kilometers west of Miami. The temporary facility, inaugurated in July 2025, processed some 21,000 deportations before being empty: the last detainees had already been transferred to other federal centers or expelled from the country.

What DeSantis and Tom Homan said

At the press conference on the premises itself — with the White House border czar, Tom Homan, and the executive director of the Florida Immigration Enforcement Board, Anthony Coker— DeSantis maintained that the center "met the role for which it was designed." According to the governor, the state intervened because the Department of Homeland Security did not have the necessary detention capacity at the time; Now, he said, the federal government can take on that role.

DeSantis claimed that the facility left Florida "safer" and that many of those charged had "massive criminal records." He added that the airfield will remain in use and that Florida will maintain an active role in immigration law enforcement: Homan described the closure as a "continuation", not a setback, of state-federal collaboration.

According to the Associated Press and WFLX, the governor confirmed that the center has zero detainees and that the demobilization of the camp — with tents, cages and trailers set up in just days—it is already underway.

Transfers, hurricanes and end of a temporary mission

In early June, state and federal authorities had announced a temporary closure and transfer of remaining detainees, citing the risk of hurricane season in a wetland area exposed to flooding. CBS News Miami reported that state-contracted vendors were ordered to begin the complete demobilization of the site, ending an experiment that some officials had presented as a model for other states.

Migrants who remained at “Alligator Alcatraz” were sent to other ICE detention centers or deported. DeSantis stressed that those who passed through the facility remain in federal custody; There are no people detained at the Ochopee airport.

Criticism: conditions, legal rights and environment

Since its opening, the center was the subject of complaints for harsh conditions—extreme heat, temporary tents, limited access to legal assistance—and for its location on ecologically sensitive land within the Everglades, surrounded by swamps, alligators and protected wildlife. Groups such as the ACLU, the ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice sued. closing and celebrated the June 25 announcement.

Lawyers and family members reported violations of due process and difficulties in locating detainees, in part because the center was operated by the state and did not appear uniformly in federal databases. Environmental organizations—including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity—challenged the construction due to its impact on protected wetlands.

France 24 reports that the installation cost hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year, with a very high daily operating cost, and that the full return of promised federal funds to the state.

What happens now with the land?

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the county's intention to transfer the Dade-Collier Airport lands to the National Park Service or other Everglades restoration partners to incorporate into the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. In a statement, the mayor described the center as "inhumane" and advocated leaving a legacy of permanent conservation once the immigration facility is dismantled.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has suggested that the former airfield could become a protected environmental space, in line with the state's Everglades preservation rhetoric — although construction of the center sparked months of environmental litigation.

In summary

What happened? DeSantis confirmed the closure of "Alligator Alcatraz" on June 25, 2026. How many deportations? About 21,000 since July 2025. Are they detained? No; They were transferred or deported. Why is it closing? Temporary mission accomplished, according to status; also safety factors in hurricane season. What's next? Dismantling of the camp and debate on the future of the land for environmental restoration.