The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a scathing report on conditions at Florida's soft-sided immigration detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz." The report, released last week (OIG-26-22), documents what inspectors found during an unannounced inspection in January 2026, months before the facility closed in June 2026.

The findings affect a core question for anyone in U.S. immigration custody: whether federal detention standards are actually enforced. According to the OIG, they were not at this facility.

What the Inspectors Found

The report describes severe shortfalls. Detained individuals could shower only three times per week, and the showers were infested with bugs. Clean drinking water was scarce, in part because the facility issued each person only one plastic cup with nowhere to clean or store it. Overcrowding was so severe that the facility provided less than half of the living space required by federal detention standards.

The most striking finding involved physical restraint. Facility staff held individuals in literal cages for up to two hours. Each cage measured approximately 18 square feet — roughly the size of a phone booth — and had locking systems. The facility described the cages as "calming" areas, but OIG determined that staff used them as punishment in at least one instance. The OIG stated it had never seen this type of restraint.

Access to legal resources also fell short. Phones for legal calls did not work, and the facility had no law library. The OIG concluded these conditions could have impeded detainees' access to counsel.

Who Was in Charge?

ICE, in its response to the report, claimed the state of Florida — not ICE — ran Alligator Alcatraz under a 287(g) Memorandum of Understanding. Staff told inspectors they did not know which standards applied, and OIG suggested that this ambiguity may have allowed the poor conditions to develop. Yet ICE officers were constantly present at the facility, and detainees received ICE's own Detainee Handbook, indicating substantial ICE involvement in administration.

The problems are not unique to this site. OIG reported in September 2022 that the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico failed health and safety standards and limited access to counsel. In July 2023, OIG found the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, compromised detainee health and safety.

The Broader Expansion

Immigration detention is expanding rapidly. As of July, more than 65,000 people were in immigration detention, and the administration's goal was 108,000 detention beds by the beginning of 2026. When Alligator Alcatraz opened, President Trump said he wanted to see more facilities like it, stating, "It might be as good as the real Alcatraz."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed the report's concerns. His communications director said of the cages, "We'd make [them] even smaller if we could."

Oversight Under Strain

The report lands at a moment of shrinking oversight. A November 2025 report indicates the president removed 17 Inspectors General, left IG offices without leadership, and defunded some offices. The administration has also gutted DHS's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. In Florida, law enforcement agencies have actively blocked access to records under state law, meaning transparency cannot be left to the states.

Congress has authorized unprecedented funding to DHS, none of it directed at improving facility conditions. As the detained population grows, the remaining oversight agencies and Congress face pressure to ensure that people in ICE custody are not in danger.

The full OIG report is available on the DHS Office of Inspector General website. Detained individuals and their families can raise concerns through the channels listed in ICE's Detainee Handbook, though — as this report shows — access to those channels depends heavily on facility conditions.