The controversial "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention centre, a costly Florida facility that became a symbol of US President Donald Trump's deportation drive, has shut down after less than a year in operation, officials said on Thursday.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, appearing at the remote Everglades site with White House border czar Tom Homan, said the facility no longer held any detainees and had fulfilled the emergency role it was built to serve.

DeSantis said the centre at an isolated airstrip in the Everglades was always meant to be only temporary until more permanent detention centres could be secured and federal officials now have that capacity.

“It served its purpose for the time,” the Republican governor said at a news conference.

Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier in June and sent all of the detainees to other facilities, saying hurricane season made it unsafe to keep them in the Everglades.

Immigration advocates said the tents were never safe or humane for holding people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers and described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that didn't flush, floors flooded with faecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.

The detention centre was built by DeSantis' administration in a matter of days and opened in July 2025. DeSantis and US President Donald Trump said it was critical to Republican efforts to return people in the country illegally back to their home countries.

“There is no question this mission has made the state of Florida safer," said DeSantis, noting that 21,000 people were deported through the facility.

Lawyers for immigrants at the facility said their clients suddenly started leaving for other facilities in South Florida, California, Arizona, Louisiana and Texas earlier this month, disappearing for about a week before their attorneys and families were told where they were sent.

Advocates for immigrants said closing “Alligator Alcatraz” does nothing to stop the harm of people who spend months in custody as their families suffer.

The Florida Immigrant Coalition said the only winners were corporations and contractors who profited millions of dollars as Republicans pushed an immigration emergency that does not exist.

DeSantis said the airstrip in the Everglades the facility was built around will continue to be used. (AP/AFP)



Edited by Cecil Wong