Ochopee, Florida - Florida's notorious Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention camp has been emptied out and its inmates relocated, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed on Tuesday.
"As we enter into hurricane season, ICE, and the state of Florida have moved illegal aliens from the soft sided facility," an ICE spokesperson told NBC Miami on Tuesday. "For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities."
The detention camp was generally expected to close within a few months, especially after insiders reported in May that its high operational costs and consistently negative public image had made Alligator Alcatraz unsustainable in the long term.
Alligator Alcatraz opened less than a year ago and cost Florida taxpayers about $1.2 million a day to operate.
Amid rumors that the facility was going to be shut down, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tried to do damage control last month, telling reporters that his government "didn't build any permanent facilities down there, because we knew it was going to be temporary."
Over the short time it was open, Alligator Alcatraz became notorious for harsh and inhumane conditions, as well as allegations of serious human rights abuses and even the use of CIA torture techniques on detainees.
An Amnesty International report last year found that detainees had been held in a tiny cage – dubbed "the box" – for hours at a time while exposed to direct sunlight, mosquitoes, and a lack of food or water.
"These findings confirm a deliberate system built to punish, dehumanize, and hide the suffering of people in detention," Ana Piquer, Amnesty's Regional Director for the Americas, said in a statement at the time.
"Immigration enforcement cannot operate outside the rule of law or exempt itself from human rights standards. What we are seeing in Florida should alarm the entire region."