The US administration is considering closing the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center for illegal immigrants, named after the infamous prison.
This was announced by Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, where the facility is located.
“It would be great if we could close this facility. The issue is being discussed“, the governor told reporters, quoted by the Miami Herald.
DeSantis noted that the new Secretary of Homeland Security Marquan Mullin has “taken a new look“ at the prison, which is where the change in policy comes from. The newspaper writes that the willingness of the Florida administration and the US federal government to abandon the prison “marks a dramatic shift in their position“.
Previously, authorities promoted the detention center as a model for combating illegal immigrants. The state of Florida has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal battles challenging attempts to close the prison.
According to The New York Times, citing sources, state and federal authorities are indeed discussing closing the prison, but these negotiations are still in the preliminary stages. The US Department of Homeland Security has concluded that the center is too expensive to maintain and considers it ineffective.
The Florida administration spends more than $ 1 million a day on the operation of the center.
Opened in the summer of 2025, the detention center, according to US President Donald Trump, was intended to serve as a model for a future series of similar facilities for detaining illegal immigrants. The surrounding area is a wetland inhabited by numerous alligators, crocodiles and venomous snakes.
The construction of the center in Florida has sparked a wave of criticism from members of the Democratic Party and human rights organizations, who believe that the harsh conditions at the facility violate the rights of immigrants. A group of Democratic senators and members of the House of Representatives have asked the authorities to disclose information about the activities of the facility, suspecting that its activities violate the law.