Florida has shut down a controversial immigration detention center dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ after it processed around 21,000 deportations, Governor Ron DeSantis has announced. The makeshift facility was hailed by the administration of US President Donald Trump but condemned by civil rights groups.

The detention center of tents and trailers was built in a matter of days on a remote Everglades airstrip and opened in July 2025. Nicknamed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ because of its isolated, swamp-surrounded location, it was designed to hold thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees awaiting removal. DeSantis and Trump said the facility was critical to their effort to expand detention capacity and accelerate deportations.

Speaking on Thursday, DeSantis said the center had “fulfilled this mission” and stressed that it had always been intended as a temporary facility while more permanent detention capacity was developed. Explaining the shutdown, state officials also cited hurricane season and the temporary nature of the complex.

The site became one of the most controversial symbols of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Immigration advocates called the facility unsafe and inhumane and accused authorities of bypassing environmental reviews before construction. Former detainees described cramped tents lined with rows of bunk beds behind chain-link fencing, alongside poor sanitation, worms in food, malfunctioning toilets, flooded floors with fecal waste, swarms of insects, unreliable air conditioning, and days without showers or prescription medicine.

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe also mounted legal challenges against the project, arguing that construction damaged sensitive wetlands in the Everglades.

Florida officials, however, rejected claims that the facility was unsafe or improperly operated.

The closure comes after months of controversy over ICE raids that fueled nationwide protests. The White House has defended the deportation campaign – billed as the largest in US history – as a way to remove “the worst of the worst” criminals. Raids in Los Angeles and across Southern California drew widespread demonstrations, with protesters calling for an end to aggressive immigration enforcement and greater oversight of federal authorities.