U.S. Transfers All Detainees From Florida Everglades Immigration Facility Ahead of Hurricane Season

U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday. The transfers were completed by June 17, 2026.

DHS cited concerns related to the hurricane season, which runs from June through November. ” The facility sits on an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades in Collier County. It opened on July 3, 2025, two days after President Donald Trump toured the site.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration built the center in a matter of days. DeSantis said in May 2026 that the facility had always been intended as temporary. He also said it had processed and deported 22,000 detainees since opening.

The first tropical storm of the 2026 season formed off the Texas coast on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center reported. Immigration advocates and lawyers called the hurricane-season explanation an excuse. ” Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney at Sanctuary of the South, said all 50 of her and other attorneys’ clients who had received free advice in the past 20 days had been moved.

The detainees were sent to facilities in South Florida, California, Arizona, Louisiana, and Texas. The Florida Division of Emergency Management, the main state agency responsible for the facility’s operation, did not immediately respond to an information request from The Associated Press on Wednesday. DHS did not specify how many detainees were held or whether the center would close permanently.