Migrants were temporarily locked inside metal cells no bigger than a phone booth at the "Alligator Alcatraz" migrant detention center in Florida, an internal investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has found, describing the practice as having no precedent in the country.
The detention center, whose nickname combined the notorious island prison in San Francisco Bay with local wildlife, operated in southeastern Florida for roughly a year, from July 2025 until June 2026, before it was closed.
The DHS Office of Inspector General carried out an unannounced visit to the site on January 21, 2026. In a report of about 30 pages dated September 11, investigators found that between July 17, 2025 and January 18, 2026, 79 people were confined in metal cells with a floor area of roughly 1.67 square meters, for periods ranging from a few minutes to almost two hours.
An "unprecedented" practice
The use of these tiny cells, for any purpose, "had no precedent" among the detention facilities the office has inspected, the report states on page 11.
Confining people in such small spaces carries "great risks" to their health, the report says on page 14.
In any case, the agency insists, the use of the cells "does not comply with existing regulations regarding respect for human dignity."
Staff called the cells rooms for "calm"
According to the report, staff at the center described the tiny cells as "calm" spaces, where detainees could "spend some time alone" and "settle down." Staff insisted that guards "did not lock" people inside the cells, though locks had been installed on them.
Investigators also identified serious shortcomings and problems at the facility, including overcrowding in the cells, a lack of medical care and poor hygiene conditions.
Trump's visit and the site's history
President Donald Trump visited "Alligator Alcatraz" shortly after it opened, in the summer of 2025. The center, built in hangars with white roofs and no windows, appears to have been assembled hastily on the grounds of a former abandoned airport in the Everglades wetlands. "We have a lot of guards, in the form of alligators," the Republican president joked during his visit.
Migrants held at the site had previously described the harsh detention conditions to the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The facility had also faced legal challenges over its operation. An appeals court ruled in September 2025 that the detention center could remain open.
