Florida Closes Alligator Alcatraz Detention Facility After Deporting 22,000

Gov. Ron DeSantis stated on May 7, 2026, at a news conference in Lakeland that it was always his intention to close Alligator Alcatraz. "At some point, we will, of course, break it down. That was always the goal," DeSantis said.

DeSantis said the facility was discussed as winding down and that he said on Day One it was going to be temporary. "It’s been discussed," he added. We didn’t know how long, because we didn’t know what funding was going to be passed, how the DHS would stand up all this stuff.

The New York Times reported on May 7, 2026, that the Department of Homeland Security is in talks with Florida officials to shut down the Alligator Alcatraz ICE facility due to high operational costs. Florida has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to operate Alligator Alcatraz since it opened. 4 million in less than two weeks of operating, according to leaked documents.

Alligator Alcatraz opened in July 2025 at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport site in Collier County, Florida, 36 miles west of Miami. The property was mostly an abandoned airfield in the Everglades before being transformed into the detention center.

It is known as Alligator Alcatraz due to the 200,000 alligators that live in the surrounding swampland, surrounded by protected wetlands in the Everglades.

Florida officials transformed the site into an operation to house illegal immigrants before deportation as part of cooperation with the Trump administration. President Donald Trump toured the facility on opening day. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Alligator Alcatraz would be funded in large part by $625 million from the FEMA Shelter and Services Program.

The facility was expected to house up to 5,000 detainees and cost $450 million for a single year of operations, according to James Uthmeier. Florida has spent more than $1 million a day to run the facility. Florida has requested $608 million in reimbursement from the federal government and has not yet received it.

Nearly 1,400 individuals are currently housed at the facility. Alligator Alcatraz has processed and deported around 22,000 detainees. Detainees at the facility have described poor physical conditions and difficulty accessing lawyers.

Detainees are segregated based on criminal history and whether they are considered a flight risk, according to a handbook made public as part of a lawsuit. During regular head counts, detainees aren’t allowed to move or talk, or they and everyone in their dorm can be punished by being locked in their housing unit.

An appeals court last month handed a win to the DeSantis administration, ruling that the facility could stay open and is not subject to a federal environmental review.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision that the facility was not under federal control, was constructed by Florida officials at state expense, and is not subject to federal environmental impact review. A senior Florida government official told Fox News the facility will return to the Everglades after it is no longer needed and that Florida commits it will never be developed.

5-mile runway that will remain available for large flights from neighboring ICE facilities after closure.

DHS stated it continuously evaluates detention needs and requirements to ensure they meet the latest operational requirements.