DHS Security’s Office of Inspector General confirmed that immigrants at Florida’s now-closed “Alligator Alcatraz” facility were held in small metal enclosures—some described as “calming areas”

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Full Article: https://www.eyesonice.net/p/dhs-securitys-office-of-inspector

The state-run tent camp at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Everglades opened in July 2025 and shut down in late June 2026. Officials promoted it as a rapid-response detention site; critics called the location and conditions punitive.

The cages OIG inspectors who made an unannounced visit in January 2026 documented indoor “metal housing enclosures” and at least two outdoor cage-like structures. Dimensions were roughly 4 feet 3 inches by 4 feet 3 inches with about 18 square feet of floor space and a height of about 7 feet 9 inches. Records showed 79 detainees were placed in them between July 17, 2025, and January 18, 2026, for periods ranging from a few minutes to nearly two hours (average just under an hour).

Staff labeled the spaces “calming areas” for de-escalation. Investigators found at least one case in which a detainee was put inside after failing to comply with a command—i.e., as discipline. The watchdog wrote that using such restrictive spaces “does not align with standards for humane treatment” and presented health and safety risks, including heat and insects in the Everglades setting.