Alligator Alcatraz sits empty as detainees move out amid lawsuits and soaring costs

Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz detention center—Kristi Noem’s flagship ICE jail project—has been emptied as hundreds of detainees are transferred amid lawsuits alleging inhumane conditions and environmental harm. The makeshift 3,000-bed facility near the Everglades faced political dreams of a replicable detention model, massive costs (projected to top $1 billion by 2027), and ongoing legal challenges, while officials dispute calls to immediately shutter the site as debates over detention policy continue in Washington and Florida.