Florida will soon close Alligator Alcatraz, the much-publicized immigrant detention center that opened in the Everglades less than a year ago, multiple news reports said, citing anonymous sources.
The company hired to run the detention center was notified on May 12 that the facility would close in June, The New York Times and CBS News reported.
The reason is the center’s operating costs. Documents obtained in March by the Naples Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Network, show that $1 million per day was spent on the alligator Alcatraz.
Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, told the Naples Daily News and Fort Myers News-Press on May 12 that she received a text message from a lawmaker saying the center would be closed.
The 1,400 people detained at the center are expected to be removed within the next few weeks. It is still unclear where they will be relocated.
Alligator Alcatraz Island was built in eight days, and then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said it would serve as a blueprint for similar sites elsewhere. The state of Florida has opened a second facility called a “deportation center” inside the Baker Correctional Facility.
USA TODAY examined the construction, cost, size and capacity of Alligator Alcatraz, as well as the political and environmental opposition to it. This is what we found.
Where is Alligator Alcatraz located?
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The facility is located on 39 square miles of Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport, a 10,500-foot single-runway airfield in Ochopee, Florida, USA TODAY reported.
It is located in Big Cypress National Preserve, next to Everglades National Park, and approximately 120 miles west of Miami.
Why do they call it “Alligator Alcatraz”?
Although Florida officials refer to the detention center as Alligator Alcatraz, its official name remains the South Florida Detention Center. This makes a connection between the notorious high-security Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay and the fact that there are 1.3 million alligators in Florida.
There are also Burmese pythons.
In a video introducing Alligator Alcatraz, Florida Attorney General James Usmeyer said, “We don’t need to invest that much into the border. People can get out and there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons.”
But the Tallahassee Democrat says people live nearby. There are 15 traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages remaining in Big Cypress. There are also several ceremonial sites, cemeteries, and meeting halls within the reserve.
The detention center is a 20-minute drive from the Miccosukee Reservation and less than 100 meters from the Seminole Panther Village of Florida.
How many prisoners can it hold?
The detention center is designed to hold 3,000 people and will eventually expand to a total capacity of 5,000.
At least 70 members of the Florida National Guard are assigned to the detention center.
Alligator How was Alcatraz built?
The facility took eight days to construct and consists of a series of bunk beds placed inside a chain-link enclosure inside a Federal Emergency Management Agency-type canvas tent.
Who runs Alligator Alcatraz?
The site was owned by Miami-Dade County and operated by the Miami-Dade Aviation Authority. At one time it was used for flight training. However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used emergency powers in June 2025 to take control of the airport.
The governor’s office said state officials offered to buy the land from Miami-Dade County, but Mayor Daniela Levin Cava responded with an “unreasonable” demand of $190 million.
Noem, who served as DHS secretary when the center opened, said Florida was to operate the center, but the facility was to be funded primarily by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program.
What is political opposition?
Environmentalists and other activists who have been actively fighting to shut down Alligator Alcatraz welcomed news that it may finally happen, the Naples Daily News reported.
Leaders of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida Indians, the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Seminole Tribe of Florida criticized the construction of the detention center.
The Seminole Nation, the largest federally recognized tribe in Florida, opposed the detention center as a threat to their sacred land.
Leaders say this will affect the environment in indigenous homelands and nearby villages where tribesmen live, hunt, fish, gather and pray.
Cindy Andrews, Anna Goni-Lessan, Cheryl MacLeod, Cabridges, J. Kyle Foster, Mickenzie Hannon, Naples Daily News, Fort Myers News Press. Melina Kahn, Chad Gillis, USA TODAY
SOURCE USA TODAY NETWORK REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. Reuters; National Park Service; everglades foundation
