The former Alligator Alcatraz immigration camp could become part of a restoration project in Florida’s Everglades.
Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz Detention Center, which has become a symbol of the national immigration crackdown, will be permanently closed, state and federal officials confirmed on June 25.
“There are zero detainees today on Alligator Alcatraz Island, which means a mission success for the state of Florida,” Anthony Coker, executive director of the Florida Immigration Executive Commission, said at a news conference that was also attended by Gov. Ron DeSantis and White House Border Czar Tom Homan.
DeSantis said more than 22,000 people had been processed and deported between the facility’s opening in July 2025 and its closure this month. The facility, hastily set up on a remote airstrip in the middle of the Everglades, was a temporary emergency measure that served its purpose while the federal government lacked the resources to process the arrivals, he said.
“This was an emergency,” DeSantis said. “DHS didn’t have the resources. The funding they got last summer hadn’t expired yet. And they were in a situation where they couldn’t keep these people. They didn’t know what to do with them. They didn’t have the space, so we did it this way.”
What’s next for the Everglades site?
The 17,000-acre site is now noted to remain permanently protected as an environmental preserve.
On June 25, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Levin Cava announced her intention to make the area part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, one of the largest environmental restoration efforts in the United States.
“From the beginning, I have expressed grave concerns about the Alligator Alcatraz detention facility because people are being held in inhumane conditions without meaningful due process while occupying land along one of the world’s most precious natural ecosystems,” Mayor Levine Cava said in a statement. “Once this facility is decommissioned, we have the opportunity to permanently protect these lands for Everglades restoration and ensure they continue to be protected for generations to come. That is the legacy we must leave behind.”
County officials have determined that an airport is no longer optimal for long-term use of the land, given its remote location, limited air access facilities, and significant maintenance obligations.
What caused the Alligator Alcatraz closure?
The announcement follows a week of reports that the Ochopee immigration detention facility will permanently curtail its operations. Until June 17, the Department of Homeland Security claimed it was moving detainees for “safety during hurricane season,” but a Florida lawmaker acknowledged that contractors on the scene had received orders to begin a “complete demobilization.”
Alligator Alcatraz cost a lot of money to operate.
The detention facility has also long faced opposition from both South Florida’s indigenous communities and environmentalists.
The Miccosukee Tribe of Florida Indians closed the facility last year and joined a lawsuit seeking the removal of equipment, rocks, tents, trails and people. Influential Miccosukee tribal member Betty Osceola said the lawsuit is still active.
Friends of the Everglades and other advocacy groups have criticized the detention facility’s impact on the fragile Everglades ecosystem.
Friends of the Everglades has filed multiple lawsuits against the state for failing to comply with environmental laws that require environmental impact reviews before construction begins. The group also sued the state for denying public records requests regarding state spending on the facility.
“‘Alligator Alcatraz’ will be remembered as one of the greatest failures in American history,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “Our government has failed to protect the Everglades and failed to follow basic environmental laws, all while racking up $1 billion in taxpayer dollars. We have filed lawsuits to stop the damage, and the lawsuits continue. We will not let up until this makeshift prison is permanently closed and all the damage is undone.”
Mickenzie Hannon is a watchdog reporter for the News-Press and Naples Daily News, covering Collier and Lee counties. Contact us at 239-435-3423 or mhannon@gannett.com.
