DeSantis Closes Alligator Alcatraz But Keeps the Enforcement Machinery in Place

Governor Ron DeSantis announced June 25 the closure of Alligator Alcatraz, Florida's controversial immigration detention center in the Everglades. The facility had drawn sustained criticism over detainee conditions. But DeSantis is preserving the state's broader 287(g) agreements and detention infrastructure that made the facility possible. The timing suggests political calculation: removing a high-profile liability without retreating from enforcement posture ahead of his 2028 positioning.