The Florida immigrant detention center besieged by complaints of inhumane conditions and nicknamed "Alcatraz with Alligators" has closed after nearly a year of operation, Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday.

The center, located on an isolated landing strip in the Everglades, was always intended to be temporary until more permanent detention facilities could be secured, and federal officials already have that capacity, DeSantis stated. "It served its purpose during that time," the Republican governor said at a press conference.

Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility in early June and transferred all detainees to other facilities due to the hurricane season threat. Immigrant advocates maintain that the tents were never safe or humane for holding people. Detainees at the facility have spoken of difficulties accessing lawyers and described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, non-flushing toilets, floors flooded with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.

The detention center was built by the DeSantis administration in a matter of days and opened in July 2025. DeSantis and President Donald Trump said the facility was central to Republican efforts to return people in the country illegally to their countries of origin. "There is no doubt that this mission has made the state of Florida safer," DeSantis said, noting that 21,000 people were deported through the facility.

Immigrant attorneys at the facility said their clients suddenly began being transferred to other facilities in South Florida, California, Arizona, Louisiana, and Texas earlier this month, disappearing for about a week before their lawyers and families learned where they had been sent.

Immigrant advocates insisted that closing the facility does nothing to stop the harm to people who spend months in custody while their families suffer. The Florida Immigrant Coalition denounced that the only winners are corporations that made millions of dollars in profits while Republicans pushed a migrant emergency that does not exist.

DeSantis said the Everglades landing strip around which the facility was built will continue to be used.