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A DHS Inspector General report confirmed for the first time that 79 detainees at "Alligator Alcatraz" were held in small metal cages — some for close to two hours — that staff called "calming areas."
- Investigators also documented severe overcrowding, contaminated drinking water and insect-infested showers, and found the facility failed to meet multiple federal detention standards.
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DHS defended the facility by pointing to past administrations, but the report shows the agency never acted on the watchdog's recommendations before the site closed in June.
A federal watchdog has now put on the record what advocacy groups alleged months earlier: detainees at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center were locked inside small metal cages that staff referred to internally as calming areas. A report released Monday by DHS's Office of Inspector General found that 79 people spent time inside these enclosures between July 2025 and January 2026, in spans that ran from just a few minutes up to close to two hours.
