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A Florida-based migrant detention center dubbed by President Donald Trump as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ failed to comply with a litany of federal detention standards, a new watchdog report found – and confined migrants in small metal ‘cages’ for hours at a time.
The facility opened in July 2025, and it officially closed its doors 13 months later after severe issues were reported. Florida officials said in May that the facility had processed and deported roughly 22,000 detainees during that time.
The new report, published by DHS’s Office of the Inspector General, determined that conditions at the now-shuttered facility posed ‘significant risks’ to migrants’ health and safety – citing inadequate living space, food service, and medical care, among other things.
Most notable were the small, fenced-in metal enclosures OIG inspectors observed, where migrants were apparently confined for periods ranging from several minutes to roughly two hours, the report said.
The practice was ‘unlike any OIG team has observed in ICE facilities,’ the inspectors found.
‘Use of these small metal enclosures for any reason is unprecedented among ICE facilities inspected by OIG,’ the report said. ‘Confining individuals in small metal enclosures for any reason presents significant risks to detainee health and well-being.’
Though facility staff at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ described the small metal enclosures as ‘calming areas’ for detainees to ‘de-escalate and have time alone,’ OIG inspectors noted that the enclosures contained locking mechanisms.
They further cited at least one instance where the enclosures – measuring roughly 18 square feet in size – were observed being used as a disciplinary tool.
President Donald Trump and then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem speak with the media before the opening of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in Ochopee, Florida
An aerial view shows the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ ICE detention center in Florida
The ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facility in southern Florida’s Everglades, is surrounded by Everglade’s wildlife like alligators, Florida panthers and pythons, and snakes as a natural deterrent
During the time that ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ was operational, more than 75 migrants were confined in the small metal enclosures, the OIG report found.
The average enclosure time for the small, metal enclosures averaged slightly more than 59 minutes.
The report also detailed glaring issues with food service, medical access, hygiene, living space, and recreation at the Florida-based immigration detention center, which was closed roughly two months ago.
It detailed showers infested with bugs, as well as concerns about food safety and access to clean drinking water, among other things.
The report comes as President Donald Trump touted ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ as a potential model for future ICE detention centers during a personal tour of the facility last year.
The detention facility, built on an abandoned airfield in the Everglades, had 5,000 beds, more than 200 security cameras, and roughly 400 security personnel manning the detention center – which was further enclosed by a massive, barbed-wire fence spanning the perimeter.
Trump had marveled during his tour last year at the detention center’s remote location, and joked that migrants being held there should be taught to run in a zig-zag pattern to escape alligators.
‘We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison,’ Trump joked.
‘The only way out, really, is deportation,’ Trump added later.
Neither DHS nor ICE immediately responded to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
