U.S. Probe Finds Abuses at Alligator Alcatraz Migrant Detention Center
Photo: EFE.
September 15, 2026 Hour: 5:42 am
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A U.S. government investigation found overcrowding, abuse and the use of small metal cages as “calming areas” at Alligator Alcatraz, a southern Florida migrant detention center, after several inspections, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General report.
The facility was inaugurated by President Donald Trump in July 2025. Inspectors described cells measuring 1.7 square meters as among the report’s most revealing details. Up to 79 migrants were confined in the restrictive spaces between July 17, 2025, and January 18, 2026. Staff alleged the 2.3-meter-high enclosures were meant to calm detainees and even said detainees requested them, but the investigation found evidence they were also used as punishment, contravening humane treatment rules.
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Space at the center fell far below national requirements, the investigation found. National rules require at least 7 square meters per detainee; at maximum capacity, the facility offered only 2.6 square meters per person, reducing daily movement and increasing stress and disease risk.
Serious failures in sanitary, medical-care and food standards accompanied the space limitations, according to the report. Detainees reported significant delays in clinical evaluations for new arrivals, insufficient personal hygiene items and food rations that were too small and poorly preserved. They were also prohibited from going outside for weeks.
DHS defended the center, saying it operated under a framework agreement with the state of Florida and not under the direct management of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), so federal detention standards did not apply, it argued.
Built on an old airfield next to Everglades National Park, a UNESCO-protected reserve, the facility became the emblem of the current administration’s mass deportation campaign. Pressure and lawsuits from humanitarian and environmental organizations precipitated its permanent closure last June.
