The immigration detention center sits in the middle of the Everglades, surrounded by alligators and pythons, exactly as Florida officials intended. What they didn’t plan for: allegations of torture, lawsuits from environmental groups, and an international human rights investigation that concluded detainees are being subjected to treatment that violates global conventions.
Six months after opening, Alligator Alcatraz remains operational.
The facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee continues holding immigration detainees despite a federal judge ordering it shut down and Amnesty International documenting conditions it categorized as torture. An appeals court reversed the shutdown order in September, and Florida keeps the lights on.
Table of Contents
A Facility Built in Eight Days
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the detention center on June 19, 2025, posting a video to Twitter where he coined the name “Alligator Alcatraz.” Eight days later, the facility was complete.
Workers laid 20 acres of asphalt, erected large white tents filled with bunk beds, positioned FEMA trailers, and installed chain-link fencing around the complex. Governor Ron DeSantis seized the county-owned airfield using emergency powers from a 2023 immigration declaration, bypassing normal environmental reviews and local approvals.
President Donald Trump toured the site on July 1, two days before the first detainees arrived. “It might be as good as the real Alcatraz,” Trump said during the visit with DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “A little controversial, but I couldn’t care less.”
The facility can hold 3,000 people. Florida officials project it could expand to 5,000.
The Box
Amnesty International researchers traveled to South Florida in September 2025. They couldn’t access Alligator Alcatraz directly. State officials never responded to their requests. Instead, researchers interviewed four men detained at the ICE-run Krome facility who had previously been held in the Everglades.
The men described a 2-by-2 foot metal structure in the facility’s outdoor yard. Guards call it “the box.” Detainees who demand medical care, ask for their rights, or help other inmates get put inside.
Inside the box, a person’s hands and feet are shackled to restraints on the ground. They cannot sit. They cannot change positions. The box sits exposed to Florida’s summer heat, insects, and weather. Guards provide minimal water.
Amnesty International’s December 2025 report states this treatment “constitutes torture” under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
The four detainees also reported overflowing toilets with waste seeping into sleeping areas, lights that stay on 24 hours, contaminated food, limited medical care, and cameras positioned above toilets. One man said detainees are routinely shackled for over 24 hours during transfers from local jails.
DeSantis administration spokesperson Molly Best called the findings “fabrications” and “nothing more than a politically motivated attack.”
What the Data Shows
NBC6 Investigates obtained ICE detention records through a Freedom of Information lawsuit. The data covered every booking from October 1, 2024, to October 15, 2025, at immigration facilities nationwide.
Analysis of 6,725 men booked at Alligator Alcatraz revealed gaps between official statements and reality:
31% had final deportation orders when detained. DeSantis stated on July 25 that “everybody here is already on a final removal order.” The data contradicts this claim.
7% had violent crime convictions as their most serious offense. Trump called the facility’s future occupants “some of the most vicious people on the planet” during his July visit.
4% had convictions for the specific crimes ICE highlighted in press releases justifying the facility.
The population fluctuated dramatically. After Judge Kathleen Williams issued her preliminary injunction in August, the number of detainees dropped to 98 by September 4. Following the appeals court decision, numbers climbed back toward 400.
Legal Ping-Pong
Judge Williams issued a temporary construction halt on August 7, 2025. Two weeks later, she granted a preliminary injunction ordering Florida and the Trump administration to stop transferring detainees to the site and remove all temporary infrastructure within 60 days.
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe filed the lawsuit. Their argument: federal law requires environmental impact studies before major construction projects. The site sits inside Big Cypress National Preserve, adjacent to Everglades National Park.
Florida and federal lawyers responded that the state, not Washington, built and operates the facility. Federal environmental law doesn’t apply to state projects.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals bought that argument. A 2-1 decision on September 4 stayed Williams’ order, allowing operations to resume.
Then records emerged. Florida applied for FEMA reimbursement on August 7, the same day Williams first intervened. FEMA approved $608 million on September 30. Environmental groups say state and federal officials withheld this information during the appeals court hearing, deliberately misleading judges about federal involvement.
The case continues.
The Money
Florida has spent between $218 million and $245 million on construction and initial operations. The state issued 34 no-bid contracts totaling over $360 million for the facility between June and August 2025.
Projected annual operating costs: $450 million.
Florida cut billions from health programs, food security, emergency response, and housing assistance while funding the detention center, according to Amnesty International’s analysis of the state budget.
History Repeating
The detention facility occupies land with a complicated past. In 1968, developers proposed building a massive Miami airport at this location, five times the size of JFK International. Construction began on what was called the Everglades Jetport.
Environmental advocates fought back. Studies warned the project would “inexorably destroy the South Florida ecosystem and thus the Everglades National Park.” The airport plan died.
Fifty-seven years later, Florida built a detention center on the same site without conducting environmental reviews.
The Miccosukee Tribe’s land sits a quarter-mile from the facility entrance. Tribal water resources director Amy Castaneda testified in federal court that no one from state or federal government contacted the tribe before construction. Tribal members reported wildlife displacement, loss of access to hunting grounds, and concerns about water contamination from the facility’s waste systems.
Castaneda explained what the Everglades means to the Miccosukee: “It’s written into the constitution to protect the Everglades because the Everglades protected them when they were hunted by the government.”
Current Status
One of three federal lawsuits ended on January 13, 2026. The detainee who filed the case agreed to voluntary deportation to Chile. His attorneys requested dismissal, noting he “is no longer detained at Alligator Alcatraz, he has formally agreed to be removed, and he will soon have left the United States.”
A separate lawsuit from five Democratic state legislators failed. The lawmakers attempted to inspect the facility in July but were denied entry by armed National Guard and state police. They sued, arguing Florida law allows legislators to access correctional institutions.
Leon County Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom ruled on January 5 that Alligator Alcatraz doesn’t qualify as a correctional institution under state law. The facility holds people in civil immigration detention, not criminal incarceration. The legislators have no statutory right to enter.
Environmental groups continue their federal case. Friends of the Everglades maintains the facility violates the National Environmental Policy Act regardless of who operates it.
What Comes Next
Florida announced a second facility. Camp Blanding, a National Guard base 400 miles north, will add 2,000 detention beds. Construction was scheduled to begin in July 2025, though current status remains unclear.
Weekly vigils happen outside Alligator Alcatraz. Faith leaders, activists, and immigrant rights organizations gather at the facility entrance on Sundays. They hold signs, pray, and demand the detention center close.
Of the 24 people who died in ICE custody nationwide between October 2024 and the present, six deaths occurred in Florida facilities. Four happened at Krome.
Amnesty International called on Florida officials to close Alligator Alcatraz and prohibit any state-run immigration detention. The organization urged federal authorities to investigate allegations of torture and ensure compliance with international human rights standards.
The facility remains open. Detainees remain inside. The litigation continues.
