Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jun 18

DHS Transfers All Detainees From Florida Migrant Camp as Hurricane Season Threatens 20,000-Processing Site

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jun 18

DHS Transfers All Detainees From Florida Migrant Camp as Hurricane Season Threatens 20,000-Processing Site

Q: With the facility now empty, will the site be dismantled and the surrounding Everglades ecosystem be restored?

The site appears likely to be dismantled, but full restoration of the surrounding Everglades is not assured. Reporting cited in the additional material says officials told vendors the detention center would close and that the temporary structures would be taken down in the following weeks. That aligns with Gov. Ron DeSantis’s earlier description of the facility as temporary. But DHS has only confirmed that detainees were moved out for hurricane-season safety; it has not clearly said the closure is permanent or ruled out reopening. What happens to the land is more contested. Environmental groups, the Miccosukee Tribe, and allied lawyers are pressing in court for full remediation, arguing the project damaged sensitive wetlands and wildlife habitat through paving, lighting, fencing, and diesel-generator pollution. They say the goal is not just an empty camp, but removal of infrastructure and restoration of the site’s ecological function. At the same time, some reporting indicates the location may reopen as a small airport for pilot training after the detention structures are removed. If that happens, the area would not be returned fully to its natural Everglades condition. So, based on what is publicly known, dismantling looks probable, but ecosystem restoration remains unresolved and will likely depend on ongoing litigation, agency decisions, and whether the state proceeds with reuse of the airstrip rather than full environmental repair.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 18

All detainees at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" have been moved to other facilities, DHS said, without disclosing how many were transferred or whether the relocation is temporary.
Hurricane season drove the decision, DHS said, as the six-month period began in June and the National Hurricane Center reported the season's first tropical storm off the Texas coast.
Some migrants are being sent to the "Deportation Depot" ICE facility in Sanderson, while advocates said transfers had already accelerated in recent weeks and left families and lawyers unable to locate dozens of detainees.
More than 20,000 detainees have been processed and deported through the Everglades site since it opened on July 3, 2025, despite repeated complaints about flooding, insects, broken toilets and limited access to counsel.
The transfer eases immediate storm risk but revives pressure to shut the camp permanently, with the ACLU calling the move only a first step after suing over detainees' access to legal representation.