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All immigrant detainees inside 'Alligator Alcatraz' have been transferred, DHS says
All immigrant detainees at "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida Everglades 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.