Some illegal immigrants were kept in small metal cages for up to two hours while being detained at “Alligator Alcatraz,” the now-closed Florida facility Gov. Ron DeSantis opened to help ICE, according to a federal inspector general’s report on Monday.
Investigators said they had never before seen the cages in a migrant detention facility and called them a risk “to detainee health and safety” by exposing immigrants to harsh sun, high temperatures and biting insects.
That was the worst of a series of failures to comply with detention standards, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general reported. Migrants also lacked clean drinking water, weren’t given enough recreation time and were forced to shower in bug-infested facilities, the investigators said.
Staff at the center, officially known as the Florida Soft-Sided Facility, described the cages as “calming areas,” saying they were used to deconflict detainees, manage discipline issues or help with housing changes.
In one case, the inspector general said, a cage seemed to have been used as punishment. The migrant’s file said the detainee spent 26 minutes in the metal enclosure after being flagged for failing “to comply with a lawful command.”
Migrants were shackled while being taken to and from the cages, but weren’t shackled inside them. While the doors had locks, they weren’t actually used, staff told the inspector general.
“Use of these small metal enclosures for any reason is unprecedented among ICE facilities inspected by [the inspector general]. Confining individuals in small metal enclosures for any reason presents significant risks to detainee health and well-being,” the report concluded.
Mr. DeSantis’s office wasn’t troubled by the findings, saying the governor saw the massive wave of illegal immigrants under President Biden and “decided to do something about it.”
“The left-wing media wants to focus on a confinement area for violent criminal aliens who have proven they cannot remain peaceful while awaiting deportation. While it adheres to all federal standards for criminal confinement, we’d make it even smaller if we could,” said spokesperson Alex Lanfranconi.
The enclosures measured 4 feet 3 inches by 4 feet 3 inches on the ground, and were less than 8 feet tall.
Investigators determined that 79 migrants were kept in the cages from July 17, 2025, to Jan. 18, 2026. They were held there for anywhere from “several” minutes to nearly two hours.
Investigators said staff told them detainees “asked to spend time” in the cages.
“We were unable to independently confirm or refute ICE officials’ assertions regarding their use of the enclosures, as well as other allegations, such as deprivation of food or water while in the enclosures,” the inspector general said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement picked up the tab for Alligator Alcatraz but left it unclear under what detention standards the migrants were supposed to be held.
Usually, ICE facilities have strict rules about hygiene, space and exposure.
The Department of Homeland Security said any issues with Alligator Alcatraz land at the feet of Florida, which ran the facility without any official contract with the feds.
The department said the migrants were held by Florida as part of its 287(g) agreement with ICE. Those agreements allow state and local officers to help enforce some federal immigration laws.
“Even as to a facility where a state detains aliens under 287(g) authority, the state maintains authority over the day-to-day operations of that facility,” wrote Brian J. Cavanaugh, under secretary for management for the Department of Homeland Security.
The inspector general made 10 recommendations for fixes but closed them all, pointing to the shutdown of Alligator Alcatraz earlier this summer.
Still, the inspector general said the issues “remain consequential” since ICE is using other state-run facilities. One of those is in Florida and still housed more than a thousand detainees as of late August.
ICE’s own documentation says “N/A” where it is supposed to record the detention standards that facility must comply with.
Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, offered Alligator Alcatraz to President Trump at a time when ICE was struggling to find bed space for illegal immigrants arrested in Mr. Trump’s mass deportation surge.
Mr. Trump attended the facility’s opening last summer in the Everglades, celebrating the remote location and potential danger to migrants who might try to escape.
“We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator, OK, if they escape from prison. How to run away. Don’t run in a straight line. Run like this,” Mr. Trump said at the time, making a zig-zag motion with his hands to demonstrate his point.
Detainees complained of lack of clean drinking water and were only allowed to wash three times a week, in bug-infested showers. ICE’s own standards call for allowing access to a shower daily.
Access to hygiene items was strictly controlled, with staff even insisting on being the ones to apply toothpaste to the detainees’ toothbrushes, investigators said.
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