Florida Closes Alligator Alcatraz Immigration Detention Facility

Florida closed its Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility on June 25, 2026. The center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee had no remaining detainees at the time of the announcement. Gov.

Ron DeSantis said at a press conference at the site that the facility had fulfilled its purpose. He added that state officials transferred the final migrants out the prior week because of safety concerns tied to the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. The facility opened in July 2025 as a temporary staging and deportation hub.

It housed 21,000 detainees during its operation and cost $1.2 billion to build and run. It sat on an isolated airfield with a nearly 10,500-foot runway, which officials viewed as an ideal location surrounded by Everglades swampland. DeSantis stated the mission made Florida safer.

He said he expects the facility to be formally closed within two weeks. The center was created under the governor’s emergency powers. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the county’s intent to sell the land to the National Park Service.

A county review found the facility had limited aviation utility, significant maintenance obligations, and increasingly constrained compatibility with surrounding conservation lands. Levine Cava said the closure creates an opportunity to permanently protect the lands for Everglades restoration.