‘Alligator Alcatraz’ suddenly shuttered following DHS auditor’s report

Published September 14, 2026 8:23pm ET



A first-of-its-kind state-run immigrant detention site in the Florida Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” shut down earlier this summer shortly after a team of federal auditors found the facility failed to meet a number of detention standards.

A new Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report about the conditions inside the 1,500-bed tent facility in South Florida revealed the facility and employees engaged in detention practices that were out of line with federal and state norms.

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