Detainees at Alligator Alcatraz have been moved for their safety during hurricane season, so says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“As we enter into hurricane season, ICE and the state of Florida have moved illegal aliens from the soft sided facility. For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities,” DHS public relations wrote to the Naples Daily News & The News-Press in an unsigned statement Wednesday, June 17.
Hurricane season began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. Alligator Alcatraz, in Ochopee in Collier County, was built by the State of Florida was opened July 2, 2025.
Governor repeats facility always meant to be temporary, while DHS doesn’t respond to questions
Whether the detention center actually is closed is not clear, from DHS or from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who had the facility built almost a year ago on an airstrip located in Big Cypress National Preserve.
DeSantis said at a press conference in Winter Haven on Tuesday, June 16 that he didn’t believe Alligator Alcatraz was empty.
“I don’t think that that that it’s empty now, at least as of yesterday when I got briefed on it,” he said.
A visit by The Naples Daily News on Monday showed what appeared to be business as usual, with gates open and police vehicles in place with lights running.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office also can’t confirm a closure.
“As of this morning, Collier County has not been notified of any change in the operational status of the illegal immigration detention facility,” John Mullins, division director – communications, said in an email.
DHS did not respond to questions about how many detainees were moved and to where and whether they will be returned to Alligator Alcatraz after hurricane season.
DeSantis was asked at Tuesday’s press conference whether the facility was closed.
He repeated previous comments that Alligator Alcatraz always was meant to be a temporary help to DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which “didn’t have wherewithal to be able to stage and house and stage illegal aliens prior to deportation, and so we have done that.”
“The state doesn’t direct people there, it’s DHS that directs them there, and so if DHS stops directing them there, then we obviously are not just gonna – it was never meant to be permanent, and so we won’t do that.”
Rumors the controversial detention center on the eastern edge of Collier County would be closing in June – less than a year since opening – were reported May 12 by the Naples Daily News, the New York Times and CBS Miami.
The detention center, also called the Soft-Sided Facility South and South Florida Detention Center in court documents and on government websites, has had reports of abuse and torture. It also has been challenged in court for violating federal requirements for environmental studies prior to construction.
DeSantis says Alligator Alcatraz saved lives; others say it’s a stain on Florida
“I think it’s been 22, 23 24,000 maybe 25,000 who would have been released into Florida communities, but instead were processed and deported from there, and there’s no question that that saved lives, no question that’s been good for public safety,” DeSantis said Tuesday.
Noelle Damico, director of social justice at The Workers Circle — a national secular Jewish social justice group that has been organizing weekly vigils outside the facility since Aug. 3, 2025 – says closing the facility is not about hurricanes.
“Alligator Alcataraz was opened during hurricane season last year, so their belated concern for the welfare of people detained at Alligator Alcatraz – people who they have shackled and put in torture boxes, denied medical treatment, pepper-bombed, given rotten food – strains credulity,” Damico told the Naples Daily News.
“DHS and the state of Florida are winding down this detention center because through 47 consecutive weeks of public protest at the freedom vigil outside Alligator Alcatraz, testimony in Congress, conscience-shocking press coverage, and pressure on lawmakers, thousands upon thousands of people have made it politically toxic to continue operations; its moral and financial cost are too high. We will verify their claim that all people have been moved and through our legal partner, Sanctuary of the South, provide free legal counsel to people wherever they land. We will keep the pressure on until Alligator Alcatraz is shut down for good.”
David Silverberg, candidate for Florida Senate District 28, agrees Alligator Alcatraz needs to close.
“Until that sign comes down and there’s a formal announcement from the governor, I don’t consider it closed,” he told the Naples Daily News in an email Wednesday.
“So far all we’ve gotten are anonymously sourced reports, hints, whispers and indications of various sorts that it’s closing. It’s not enough. Alligator Alcatraz has to be as publicly and formally closed as it was publicly and formally opened,” he said.
Do you have an opinion about this topic? Write a letter to the editor at letters@naplesnews.com and/or mailbag@news-press.com. Keep it to 250 words or fewer and include your contact info. Have more to say: Send a guest column of no more than 600 words.
J. Kyle Foster is a senior growth & development reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her by emailing jfoster1@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Alligator Alcatraz detainees moved out, DHS says, but will they return?
Reporting by J. Kyle Foster and Laura Layden, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By J. Kyle Foster and Laura Layden, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
