Report reveals 79 immigrants caged outdoors at closed Florida detention centre
Developing story first seen 3 hours ago
The US Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog has published its full report confirming that immigrants held at the now-closed "Alligator Alcatraz" detention centre in Florida were placed in small outdoor metal cages, with new detail showing 79 detainees were held this way between July 2025 and January 2026, for periods ranging from minutes to nearly two hours, including at least once as a disciplinary measure. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) branded the roughly 18sq ft enclosures "unprecedented among detention facilities" and incompatible with humane treatment standards, despite facility staff describing them as "calming areas". DHS has responded that Florida's state authorities, not federal officials, ran day-to-day operations, even though the federal government funded the site.
The report also details further breaches of hygiene, medical care, food, health and safety standards: detainees said showers were infested with small bugs and available only three times a week, living quarters were cramped, and there was no access to clean drinking water or means to wash their plastic cups. The facility was built in just eight days in 2025 in the Everglades wetlands under an executive order from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and was toured by President Trump, who once joked detainees would need to "run away" from alligators there. DeSantis announced its closure in June 2026, saying it had only ever been intended as temporary; the BBC has sought comment from ICE and DeSantis's office.
- Watchdog report details 79 immigrants held in tiny outdoor cages
- Conditions breached hygiene, medical, food and safety standards
- DHS blames Florida for daily operations despite federal funding
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Immigration detention in the United States has expanded sharply under the Trump administration, with new facilities set up to hold people while their immigration cases are processed or they await deportation. One such site, built in the Florida Everglades in 2025 and nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" because of its remote, swamp-bound location, became a focal point for debate over how quickly it was constructed and the conditions inside it. The centre was established by Florida's state government under Governor Ron DeSantis, with federal funding, and closed in June 2026.
Oversight of US immigration detention involves several bodies, including the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General, an internal watchdog that investigates how federal money and facilities are run regardless of who manages day-to-day operations. Because Alligator Alcatraz was state-run but federally funded, questions of accountability have run through much of the coverage, with DHS pointing to Florida officials as responsible for daily conditions.
This background matters because detention standards in the US are meant to guarantee detainees basic provisions such as adequate hygiene, food, medical care and safe living conditions. Reports that these standards were not met at a high-profile, rapidly built facility feed into a wider ongoing debate about the treatment of immigrants held in expanded detention capacity across the country.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of the facility's approach argue that the United States faced a genuine surge in detained migrants requiring emergency capacity that could not be built to fully mature standards overnight, and that a temporary, rapidly constructed site was a reasonable stopgap rather than a long-term solution. They contend that measures such as the so-called calming areas were intended for safety and de-escalation rather than punishment, and that isolated shortcomings in a fast-scaled operation should be weighed against the broader imperative of enforcing immigration law and maintaining secure custody. They also note that responsibility rested with Florida's state authorities under an executive order, and that federal funding does not equate to federal control over daily operations, so criticism should be directed at the appropriate level of government.
The case against
Critics argue that no operational pressure justifies holding people in small outdoor metal cages for hours, denying them clean water, or limiting showers to the point of unsanitary conditions, since basic humane treatment is a baseline obligation regardless of how quickly a facility was built. They emphasise that the government's own independent watchdog, not an outside advocacy group, characterised the practice as unprecedented and incompatible with humane standards, lending it particular credibility. They further contend that funding confers responsibility, and that federal authorities cannot outsource accountability for conditions in a facility they financed simply because a state government managed its daily operations, especially when detainees have limited ability to advocate for themselves.
Full account
A watchdog investigation into the now-closed 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention centre in Florida has found that detainees were repeatedly confined in small outdoor metal enclosures, a practice inspectors described as without precedent among facilities used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The findings come from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General (OIG), an internal watchdog whose current head was appointed by President Trump during his first term, following a surprise visit to the site in January.
According to the report, the enclosures measured roughly 18 square feet (about 1.67 square metres) and were fitted with locking mechanisms. Dozens of detainees were held inside them for periods ranging from a few minutes to almost two hours, including at least one occasion when the enclosure was used as a punishment rather than, as facility staff described it, a 'calming area' where people could de-escalate and spend time alone. Inspectors rejected that characterisation, concluding that confining people in this way carried serious risks to their health and wellbeing and fell well short of accepted standards for humane treatment.
The report also documented broader failings at the centre, including inadequate medical care, food service and general living conditions. Detainees said they were restricted to showering three times a week, in cubicles that were infested with small insects, and struggled to obtain clean drinking water or wash the cups they were given to drink from. Investigators found that housing units were overcrowded, leaving detainees with little space for much of the day. Some of these complaints echo accounts detainees had previously given directly to journalists, including allegations that they were denied necessary medication.
The facility, built in just eight days on a disused airfield in the Everglades wetlands, opened in the summer of 2025 under an executive order signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, with the state overseeing day-to-day running while the federal government covered operating costs. Its location amid alligator-infested marshland prompted the nickname that stuck, one Trump himself invoked when he joked that detainees would need to learn to outrun the reptiles. President Trump later toured the site and suggested it could serve as a model for future detention centres, while civil rights groups and environmental campaigners condemned it as both inhumane and damaging to a protected ecosystem. DeSantis announced its closure in mid-2026, describing it as always having been intended as a temporary measure.
Homeland Security's response to the watchdog placed responsibility for daily operations with Florida authorities rather than the federal government, though DHS ultimately funded the facility. The department has not yet issued a fuller response to media queries about the report's findings, and neither ICE nor DeSantis's office had commented publicly at the time of writing.
Coverage of the report diverges slightly on some specifics. One outlet put the number of detainees held in the metal enclosures at 79 over the roughly six months to January, while another cited a figure of 'more than 75' and additionally reported that time spent inside averaged just under an hour. Reporting also varies in its framing of the facility's broader record: one account foregrounds the regulatory and jurisdictional dispute between Florida and federal authorities, while another places more weight on the facility's scale and throughput, noting Florida officials' claim that around 22,000 detainees passed through during its roughly thirteen months of operation, and that it held some 5,000 beds and over 200 security cameras.
Where outlets differ
Number of detainees held in the metal enclosures: one report says 79, another says 'more than 75'
Only one source provides an average confinement duration (just over 59 minutes); the other gives only the range of minutes to nearly two hours
One report emphasises the dispute over whether Florida or the federal government bore responsibility for conditions; the other emphasises the facility's scale (5,000 beds, 200+ cameras) and throughput (about 22,000 detainees processed/deported)
Reporting differs on total operating time before closure — one describes it closing roughly 13 months after opening, having been shut about two months before the report's publication, while the other frames the closure via DeSantis's stated rationale that it was only ever meant to be temporary
More coverage
- Daily Mail — Explosive report into Trump's now-closed 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant detention facility reveals small cage 'calming areas' and other deplorable conditions
- The Hill — Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ confined migrants in 'small metal enclosures': DHS internal watchdog
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by BBC World as “Immigrants held in small outdoor cages at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in Florida, investigators find”.