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The director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, acknowledged that he learned through the media about the federal decision to transfer all detainees from the immigration center known as "Alligator Alcatraz," located in the Everglades of South Florida.
Guthrie made the statements during a roundtable on hurricane preparedness at the Biscayne Bay campus of Florida International University in North Miami, and directed the questions straight to the federal agency: "So you would have to ask ICE what has changed."
Her words reveal a notable disconnect between the state government and federal authorities regarding the future of the controversial venue.
" It was always intended to be temporary. ICE made a decision. They issued that statement. I did not see that statement before it reached the media," admitted the official, as quoted by Local 10.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed on Tuesday the evacuation of the center, citing security reasons due to the beginning of hurricane season, which coincided with the formation of the first tropical storm of the 2026 season off the coast of Texas.
The spokesperson for DHS, Lauren Bis, justified the measure with a brief statement: "For the safety of undocumented detainees, we are transferring them to other facilities."
The authorities did not specify how many people were relocated or to which centers they were sent.
Attorney Katie Blankenship from Sanctuary of the South confirmed that her 50 clients were transferred to facilities in South Florida, California, Arizona, Louisiana, and Texas, without the authorities formally notifying their legal representatives.
Guthrie defended the structural resilience of the center, although with a toned-down version compared to previous statements: "The I-beam structures and tent structures can withstand winds of up to 74 miles per hour, equivalent to a tropical storm or a category 1 hurricane." He had previously stated that the facility could withstand a category 2 hurricane.
The official insisted that evacuation plans have always existed: "There was never any intention to leave people in that facility, not even during a tropical storm. We were going to evacuate and we had evacuation plans."
The center will remain open and could resume operations. "At this time, we have not been instructed to suspend operations, so we are still prepared to receive detainees again if that is what the Department of Homeland Security wishes to do," Guthrie stated.
The DHS did not clarify whether the closure is temporary or permanent.
«Alligator Alcatraz» was built in just eight days using state emergency powers and was inaugurated by President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis on July 3, 2025, at the former Dade-Collier airport, within the Big Cypress National Preserve.
Since its opening, it has accumulated complaints of inhumane conditions: overcrowding, non-potable water, worms in the food, and non-functioning toilets. Nearly 60% of the detainees were classified by ICE as individuals without prior criminal convictions, contradicting the original justification given by authorities.
The total operating cost exceeded 1.1 billion dollars by June 2026, according to records obtained by Friends of the Everglades, an organization that maintains an active lawsuit for environmental damages in the Everglades.
Amy Godshall, an attorney with the ACLU of Florida, warned that the relocation does not close the chapter: “Removing people from this cruel facility is an important step, but it does not erase the harm that has already been done. The state and federal government must permanently close this facility and commit to never detaining people there again.”
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