Inspector general says detainees were held in cramped housing, denied required recreation and daily showers, and placed in small metal enclosures; DHS disputes the extent of its responsibility for the state-run facility
OCHOPEE, Fla. | A Department of Homeland Security watchdog found widespread failures to meet detention standards at Florida’s controversial immigration facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” including inadequate living space, limited recreation and showers, problems involving medical monitoring and food service, and the unprecedented use of small metal enclosures to hold dozens of detainees.
The findings are contained in a final report issued Sept. 11 by the DHS Office of Inspector General following an unannounced Jan. 21 inspection of the Florida Soft-Sided Facility in Ochopee. The facility, which also operated under the name South Florida Detention Facility, began operations in July 2025 and ceased operations in June 2026.
Investigators found an especially fundamental problem: Facility officials could not clearly explain which detention standards governed their operations.
According to the OIG, staff offered inconsistent answers, citing various combinations of ICE’s 2019 National Detention Standards, Florida Model Jail Standards and Florida Department of Corrections requirements. ICE documentation, meanwhile, listed the facility’s contractually obligated standards as “N/A,” while a handbook distributed to detainees said the facility followed ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards and American Correctional Association standards.
The inspector general concluded that the resulting ambiguity undermined accountability and the consistent treatment of detainees.
The facility did comply with the standards investigators examined for intake and use of force. But the OIG found noncompliance in six other areas: environmental health and safety, special management units, medical care, food service, personal hygiene and recreation.
Cramped Housing Fell Far Below Standard, OIG Says
Among the watchdog’s most significant findings was the amount of space provided to detainees.
Applicable standards required at least 75 square feet of floor space per detainee in dormitory housing. At maximum capacity, the OIG calculated, the facility provided about 28 square feet per detainee.
In one housing pod examined on inspection day, individual units contained between 22 and 32 detainees, providing between 28 and 40.8 square feet per person. None of the eight units met the 75-square-foot standard. The inspector general calculated that each unit would have needed to be limited to 11 detainees to comply.
The report described general-population housing as eight windowless, soft-sided structures without outside views and with little natural light. Individual units contained bunk beds but lacked common areas, seating, tables and storage. Detainees generally left those units for meals, medical reasons, showers three times per week and one hour of recreation three days per week.
The OIG warned that the cramped conditions could adversely affect detainees’ physical and mental health.
79 Detainees Placed in Small Metal Enclosures
One finding stood apart from the inspector general’s previous experience examining ICE detention facilities.
Between July 17, 2025, and Jan. 18, 2026, records showed that 79 detainees were placed in small metal enclosures offering approximately 18 square feet of floor space. Individual stays ranged from several minutes to nearly two hours.
The OIG described the practice as unlike anything its inspectors had observed at other ICE facilities and said it did not align with standards calling for humane treatment and the least restrictive environment necessary for safety and security.
Facility employees characterized the enclosures as “calming areas” where detainees could de-escalate, manage emotions and spend time alone. Staff told investigators that detainees requested to use them.
But investigators found documentation indicating that at least one placement may have been disciplinary. In that instance, the facility recorded that a detainee who spent 26 minutes inside an enclosure had failed to comply with a command.
The OIG ultimately recommended that ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division “immediately discontinue” use of the small metal enclosures to hold detainees for any amount of time.
Problems Extended to Water, Food and Medical Monitoring
Inspectors documented other deficiencies affecting everyday living conditions.
The OIG found that the facility’s medical contractor had policies for monitoring detainees considered at risk of drug or alcohol withdrawal but did not use standardized forms to document that monitoring. Investigators said the absence of those tools could prevent medical personnel from consistently measuring withdrawal symptoms and developing individualized treatment plans.
Food-service concerns included a freezer that inspectors found operating above the recommended zero-degree temperature. Its gauge initially showed 10 degrees Fahrenheit and, approximately 17 minutes later, 14 degrees, according to the report.
Investigators also interviewed eight detainees about drinking water. Six said they did not have access to clean drinking water and described it as dirty. Detainees also complained that they could not properly clean the plastic cups they used for water. Inspectors observed cups stored on floors, bed railings and bathroom-wall ledges because there were no dedicated storage areas.
The OIG reported the detainees’ statements as allegations observed during interviews; the report does not establish through laboratory testing that the drinking water itself was contaminated.
Showers Three Days a Week, Despite Daily-Access Standard
Personal hygiene emerged as another significant area of noncompliance.
Detainees and facility employees told investigators that showers were available three times per week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — even though the Florida Model Jail Standards cited by the inspector general called for general-population detainees to have daily access to showers.
The OIG also reported observing small bugs on shower ceilings. Of eight detainees interviewed, seven answered “No” when asked whether the facility was clean, and two specifically identified the showers as a problem.
Recreation was similarly limited. General-population detainees were offered one hour three days per week, according to investigators, compared with standards calling for at least one hour per day five days per week or a minimum of six hours spread over at least four days.
A Dispute Over Who Was Responsible
Beyond the conditions themselves, the report exposes a significant disagreement between DHS and its own inspector general over responsibility for the facility.
DHS said it had no contract with Florida to manage the detention space. The department argued that Florida detained immigrants there through authority delegated under Section 287(g) of federal immigration law and that the state therefore retained responsibility for the facility’s day-to-day operations.
The inspector general reached a more complicated conclusion.
All detainees at the facility were ICE immigration detainees, according to the report. Investigators also found ICE posters throughout the facility, ICE personnel on-site and an ICE detainee handbook describing the Ochopee operation as an ICE detention facility. The OIG said the federal government and Florida had also made representations in court that the facility operated with ICE oversight under the 287(g) program.
The inspector general therefore concluded that evidence showed ICE exercised “some degree of oversight authority and engagement” even without a direct contract.
Federal Government Obligated More Than $600 Million
The federal financial connection was also substantial.
According to the report, FEMA obligated $608.4 million to the Florida Division of Emergency Management in September 2025 for the temporary detention facility through its Detention Support Grant Program. FEMA subsequently disbursed $58.3 million in May 2026 for allowable operating expenses, including staffing, supplies and detainee support services.
The inspector general emphasized that regardless of the dispute over operational control, DHS retained authority over the facility’s use of federal FEMA grant funding.
10 Recommendations Closed After Facility Shut Down
The OIG issued 10 recommendations addressing overcrowding, recreation, legal materials, working telephones, medical withdrawal monitoring, food storage, clean drinking water, showers, pest control and the small metal enclosures.
But DHS did not address those recommendations in its management response, according to the inspector general.
Because the Ochopee facility ceased operations June 15, the OIG administratively closed all 10 recommendations rather than leaving them open for corrective action.
That did not end the watchdog’s concerns.
The report specifically pointed to another state-operated Florida immigration facility, Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, also called “Deportation Depot.” It housed 1,028 detainees as of Aug. 27, according to the report.
That finding gives the report implications extending beyond a detention center that has already closed.
The fundamental issue raised by the inspector general is not merely what happened inside “Alligator Alcatraz.” It is who is accountable for ensuring federal immigration detainees receive treatment consistent with applicable standards when ICE places them in facilities operated by state governments — particularly when hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding may be involved.
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-- By Frank Atkinson
Sarah Darden contributed to this report
© Copyright 2026 JWT Communications. All rights reserved. This article cannot be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten, or distributed in any form without written permission.
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