Overview
- State officials announced on Thursday that the Ochopee airstrip site known as Alligator Alcatraz is being demobilized and has been emptied of detainees.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference at the site with White House border official Tom Homan as leaders framed the closure as a safety decision tied to the 2026 hurricane season.
- The facility processed roughly 20,000 to 22,000 people after being built in mid‑2025 and was touted by DeSantis and President Trump as a model for mass detention and deportation.
- Human‑rights groups, lawyers and former detainees have documented poor conditions at the tented site, including limited lawyer access, sanitation problems, infestations and flooding, and several lawsuits remain pending.
- The project cost about $1.2 billion, federal reimbursement of roughly $608 million is unresolved, and vendors, environmental regulators and courts must still settle demobilization fees, land restoration and legal claims.