US transfers immigrants out of Florida Alligator Alcatraz detention centre

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced that all immigrant detainees have been transferred out of a Florida detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz , effectively shuttering the controversial facility.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday that everyone being held in the state-run facility had been transferred out, citing concerns about the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.

“For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities,” department spokesperson Lauren Bis told The Associated Press news agency in a statement.

She did not specify how many people were transferred, or where they were sent. Her statement also did not indicate whether the detention facility was permanently shuttered, though reports of its impending closure had intensified for months.

Several anonymous officials told The New York Times in May that the isolated facility, located inside Florida’s Big Cypress Natural Preserve, was too costly to maintain.

The facility has attracted significant scrutiny since it was first announced nearly a year ago, on June 19, 2025.

Named after the infamous Alcatraz Island prison in San Francisco, “Alligator Alcatraz” was billed as a temporary facility that would make use of its wetland surroundings as a deterrent for escape.

“If people get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide,” said Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.