DHS Watchdog Confirms 79 Immigrants Were Held in 4-by-4 Foot Outdoor Cages at 'Alligator Alcatraz'

The Department of Homeland Security's own inspector general has confirmed what immigrant advocates alleged months ago: detainees at Florida's now-closed "Alligator Alcatraz" were locked in outdoor cages barely bigger than a phone booth.

The finding comes from DHS Office of Inspector General report OIG-26-22, published September 11, 2026, following an unannounced inspection of the Florida Soft-Sided Facility in Ochopee in January 2026, according to tampafp and NBC News. The facility, built on a former airport in the Everglades under a June 2025 emergency order from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, was designed to hold up to 5,000 undocumented immigrants as part of the Trump administration's deportation effort, according to Fox News.

The OIG Findings

Inspectors documented that 79 detainees were confined in small outdoor metal enclosures between July 17, 2025 and January 18, 2026, according to tampafp's account of the OIG report. The structures measured roughly 4 feet by 4 feet, offering 16 to 18 square feet of floor space depending on which agency's measurement is cited.

Confinement times ranged from a few minutes to nearly two hours, averaging about 59 minutes, according to tampafp. NBC News reports some detainees were held more than an hour at a stretch.

Facility staff called the enclosures "calming areas," telling inspectors they were meant to give detainees time alone to "de-escalate," "reflect on their behavior choices," and "manage their emotions," according to NBC News. But the OIG report also found the units were used for disciplinary purposes, including after at least one detainee "failed to comply with a lawful command," according to tampafp.

The inspector general did not mince words on the scale of the problem. The report calls the use of these enclosures "unprecedented among detention facilities OIG has inspected" and says it "presents significant risks to detainee health and safety," according to tampafp. NBC News quotes the report's conclusion that the practice "does not align with standards for humane treatment."

How That Compares to the Rules

ICE's own guidelines require rooms designed to hold one person to be at least 37 square feet, according to NBC News. That means the outdoor cages were less than half the minimum size ICE sets for itself. Solitary confinement cells in federal prisons run around 84 square feet, NBC News reports, for comparison.

General population housing at the site wasn't much better by the numbers. The OIG found detainees had as little as 28 square feet of floor space per person at full occupancy, compared to the 75 square feet required under Florida Model Jail Standards, according to tampafp. Inspectors also found food freezers running at 10 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, outside safe operating range, per tampafp's reporting.

The Amnesty International Allegations

The OIG inspection followed a report published by Amnesty International in December 2025, based on detainee interviews and a facility tour, which went further than the government's own findings and called the conditions torture, according to NBC News. That report sparked a congressional probe.

Detainees quoted by tampafp described being held roughly 32 to a cage in 1,000-square-foot tents lit around the clock by stadium-style lights, with no televisions, no religious materials, and no visits from lawyers or family. One detainee said the air conditioning was so strong combined with exposure to mosquitos that conditions were, in their word, extreme.

Those are allegations from people who were detained there, not independently verified findings. The OIG's own report is more measured than Amnesty's torture characterization even while confirming the core physical facts: the cages existed, they were undersized, and detainees were held in them for up to two hours.

A Watchdog Who Wasn't Fired

Since returning to office in 2025, President Trump has fired at least 18 inspectors general across the federal government, according to NBC News. DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari was one of the few Cabinet-level watchdogs who kept his job, which NBC News frames as making this report a rare instance of a surviving Trump-era IG publicly criticizing the administration's own detention practices.

Fox News's general immigration coverage provides useful context on why the facility exists and who built it, but it does not address the OIG report's specific findings on the cages, freezer temperatures, or overcrowding.

No DHS or ICE response to the OIG's findings appears in the available reporting. The facility itself is already closed, though none of the sources state that the closure was a result of these findings. What remains unresolved is whether the congressional probe triggered by Amnesty International's report will examine who authorized the disciplinary use of the enclosures, and whether any other active ICE facilities use similar structures that haven't yet been inspected.