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All detainees from immigration facility 'Alligator Alcatraz' have been transferred, DHS says

Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour) · back to the audit

MIAMI (AP) -- All detainees at an immigration detention center in an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades, known as "Alligator Alcatraz," have been transferred to other facilities, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said, citing concerns related to the hurricane season.

The South Florida Detention Center has been praised by President Donald Trump. But its conditions have been harshly criticized by lawyers, families and human rights groups, who have persistently denounced the mistreatment of detainees since the center opened 11 months ago, during the Atlantic hurricane season.

DHS said that all detainees at the Florida state-run facility had been transferred but did not specify how many or where they were taken. Nor did it say whether the facility would close permanently or only temporarily.

"For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities," department spokesperson Lauren Bis said in an emailed statement.

DeSantis said in May that South Florida Detention Facility always was meant to be temporary. He said the facility had processed and deported 22,000 detainees since its opening.