Alligator Alcatraz faced its first cold snap. Did it keep detainees warm?

Garrett Shanley, Miami Herald on Feb 2, 2026

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MIAMI — Beyond questions of legality and oversight, Alligator Alcatraz has faced persistent skepticism from advocates, attorneys and lawmakers over an obvious issue: how an immigration detention camp in the middle of the Everglades would fare against Florida’s unpredictable extremes, from punishing summer heat and heavy storms to sudden cold snaps like the one that arrived this weekend.

National Weather Service temperature data for the last several days, recorded at Naples — roughly 60 miles west of the Ochopee-area facility — show a sharp drop as the cold snap settled in. Overnight lows reached the mid-30s and daytime highs struggled to rebound into the 60s, far below South Florida winter norms.

The detention facility, designed to house a few thousand people, was rapidly established last summer at an abandoned airstrip within the Big Cypress National Preserve. Built in just days by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, it was intended as part of a broader state-led effort to house and process immigrants that the Trump administrations says are in the country illegally.

Detainees and advocates have previously raised concerns about what they describe as the inconsistent temperature management at the facility, including dorms that felt uncomfortably cold at night and, at other times, stifling heat when air conditioning systems struggled. Those complaints have fueled broader criticism that the facility’s infrastructure may be ill-suited to protect against sudden weather shifts.

But a state spokeswoman said the facility was prepared for the cold.

“Detainees have access to jackets, hats, and blankets, with additional blankets available as needed,” Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesperson Stephanie Hartman said in a Thursday statement to the Herald/Times. “All dorms are climate-controlled and are equipped with secondary heating solutions when necessary, and additional space heaters are available as appropriate.”

A Miami immigration attorney who represents Alligator Alcatraz detainees, Wilfredo O. Allen, said on Monday they have not received any reports from inmates or their families regarding poor temperature controls this past weekend. “I figured that would be of concern,” Allen said in an interview. “But I’ll be honest with you, I don’t have anybody that’s written me or called me.”

Thomas Kennedy, a policy analyst for the Florida Immigration Coalition, an advocacy group, also said he has not received any accounts of the facility’s climate controls.

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