Florida authorities are preparing to shut down the Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention center located in the Everglades wetlands.
According to the report, the facility’s management informed contractors on May 12 that the center would soon close. All migrants currently held there are expected to be transferred by early June, after which the site will be dismantled over the course of several weeks.
As of April 2026, around 1,400 detainees were being held at Alligator Alcatraz. Authorities have not yet disclosed where they will be relocated after the facility shuts down.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management, which oversees the site, as well as the governor’s office, did not respond to reporters’ requests for comment.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it regularly reviews “detention needs and conditions” to ensure they align with “current operational requirements.”
The Alligator Alcatraz center opened in July 2025 in the middle of the Everglades swamps. In less than a year, Florida authorities spent hundreds of millions of dollars maintaining the facility.
Throughout the center’s operation, detainees, relatives, lawyers, and human rights groups repeatedly reported poor sanitary conditions and inhumane treatment. State authorities rejected those allegations.