Watchdog Confirms Cages Were Used at Florida's Alligator Alcatraz Jail

Federal inspectors have confirmed that detainees at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration jail were repeatedly locked in outdoor metal cages about the size of a phone booth. The Guardian

The finding is in inspection report OIG-26-22, titled "Unannounced Inspection of ICE's Florida Soft-Sided ..." It was written by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, the independent watchdog that reviews the department. The report gives the first official confirmation that use of the cages went against the detention rules of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency that sets standards for housing and treatment in immigration detention. DHS OIG

Inspectors reached that conclusion after an unannounced visit in January 2026 to the site the report calls the Florida Soft-Sided Facility (FSSF), a tent-based complex built to add detention beds quickly. They documented 79 instances between July 2025 and January 2026 in which detainees were placed in the cages for up to two hours at a time. The report states that holding detainees in the metal cages "does not align with standards for humane treatment".

The same inspection found the facility did not give detainees enough living space. That crowding, inspectors wrote, may harm physical and mental health. Taken together, the report said, the failures posed "significant risks to detainee health and safety".

Alligator Alcatraz closed in June after about a year of operation. It was run by Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis on behalf of the federal government. DeSantis said more than 21,000 immigrants were detained and deported through the facility. Officials cited the risk of keeping detainees in tents during hurricane season as the reason for closure, and detainees were moved to other facilities. Reuters Florida told the OIG that ICE decides which detainees are offered to the state for placement at Alligator Alcatraz.

The cage allegations had been public before but were officially denied. A December dossier from Amnesty International alleged detainees were regularly shackled outside in metal cages for hours and exposed to heat, sunshine and mosquitoes. A spokesperson for DeSantis dismissed those allegations as "fabrications" and called the Amnesty report "a politically motivated attack". In August 2025, DHS stated that Alligator Alcatraz met federal detention standards and said allegations of inhumane conditions were false. DHS

That period of denials overlapped with court battles over the site. A divided federal appeals court allowed the detention center to resume operations in early September 2025. Reuters A spokesperson later said reports that DHS was pressuring Florida to cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz were false. Reuters

The broader context here is the accountability gap that can open when states add detention space fast with tent-style infrastructure. In my view, the sequence is worth close attention: warnings from advocates, denials from both state and federal officials, continued operations allowed by a court, then a post-closure watchdog finding that confirmed the core factual claim about the cages. The facility is closed. The open questions concern how ICE standards are enforced and monitored while a state is the operator, and what practical effect an OIG inspection has once detainees have been dispersed elsewhere.