“Alligator Alcatraz,” the remote Florida immigration detention center that faced harsh criticism for its conditions, has shut down nearly a year after opening, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.

DeSantis said the center at an isolated airstrip in the Everglades was always meant to be only temporary until more permanent detention centers could be secured and federal officials now have that capacity.

“It served its purpose for the time,” the Republican governor said at a news conference.

Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier in June and sent all of the detainees to other facilities, saying hurricane season made it unsafe to keep them in the Everglades.

Immigration advocates said the tents were never safe or humane for holding people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers and described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that didn’t flush, floors flooded with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.

The detention center was built by DeSantis’ administration in a matter of days and opened in July 2025. DeSantis and President Donald Trump said the detention center was critical to Republican efforts to return people in the country illegally back to their home countries. (AP, excluding headline)

•Trucks come and go from the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, Aug. 28, 2025, in Collier County, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

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