Miami
Federal report confirmed the use of tiny cages for migrants at the site known as Alligator Alcatraz
A Department of Homeland Security inspection found that detainees at the Florida facility were placed in 16- and 18-square-foot enclosures for periods of up to nearly two hours. The report said the practice did not match humane treatment standards.
A report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security inspector general confirmed that migrants held at the South Florida facility known as Alligator Alcatraz were placed in small metal cages, including outdoor enclosures only slightly larger than a phone booth.
As reported by NBC News Politics and NBC 6 South Florida, the review marks the first time a government agency has formally acknowledged the existence of the cramped spaces at the South Florida Detention Facility. The report said the use of such restrictive areas is highly unconventional and does not align with standards for humane treatment.
Inspectors visited the facility in January and found enclosures measuring about 4 by 4 feet, or 16 square feet, as well as indoor cages measuring 18 square feet. According to the report, staff described them as calming areas where detainees could de-escalate and spend time alone.
The report said those spaces were less than half the minimum size required under ICE guidance for one-person rooms, which is 37 square feet. It also noted that solitary confinement cells in federal prisons are around 84 square feet.
Internal records reviewed by the inspector general showed that 79 detainees were held in 16- and 18-square-foot metal cages between July 17, 2025, and Jan. 18. The average stay was just under an hour, and the longest time recorded was just under two hours.
The report also said a sign outside one holding cell stated that the space was meant to provide a safe and secure place within the general population so detainees could reflect on their behavior, manage emotions and reduce stress. Under facility records cited in the report, a detainee could spend up to two hours there and could leave at their own request or on staff direction. Staff told inspectors the detainees were not locked inside, although inspectors observed locking mechanisms on the doors.
Amnesty International had already alleged in a December report, based on a September 2025 tour and interviews with four detainees, that the cages were used as punishment and that conditions at the site were inhuman and unsanitary. According to the group, detainees faced overflowing toilets, exposure to insects and lights kept on around the clock. It also cited accounts of a metal enclosure detainees called the box. ICE told the inspector general that detainees were shackled while being escorted to the enclosures, but not while inside them.
The facility opened in July 2025 in the Everglades, was built by Ron DeSantis’ administration and operated under a 287(g) agreement between Florida authorities and the federal government. That framework allows state and local law enforcement agencies to carry out certain immigration enforcement functions under ICE supervision.
Homeland Security, however, denied having authority over the site’s day-to-day operations. In a signed response from the DHS undersecretary of management and ICE’s acting director, the department said there was no contract with the state of Florida to run Alligator Alcatraz and that the 287(g) agreement does not give the federal government control over the physical operations of detention facilities. The inspector general’s report noted, however, that ICE personnel were on site and that every detainee received an ICE handbook describing Alligator Alcatraz as an ICE facility.
The center had been promoted by Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis as an important part of the administration’s mass deportation push, but it drew criticism from Democrats and immigrant advocates and became the subject of ongoing lawsuits. The facility closed in June and, according to DeSantis, had always been intended as a temporary operation.
On costs, the outlets reported that the facility cost the state of Florida more than $1 billion, according to state records made public in litigation. The inspector general’s report added that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had provided Florida $608 million for operations. Internal government spreadsheets cited by NBC News also showed operating costs of more than $1 million a day, with each bed at the Everglades facility costing more than $3,000 per day compared with less than $200 at a typical ICE detention site.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
