Florida’s much-hyped ICE detention center cannot even keep the rain out.
Videos from the so-called Alligator Alcatraz, which President Donald Trump visited on Tuesday to mark its opening, show that the center had standing water on its first day of operation.
A good lil storm passed over us here at ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’Here’s what it looks & sounds like inside one of these tents.The state says the sites here are rated to withstand a category two hurricane (~120mph winds). pic.twitter.com/6SyY1hAvkK
— Jason Delgado (@JasonDelgadoX) July 1, 2025
Florida officials claim the facility, situated in the middle of the muggy, naturally flooded Everglades, is sturdy enough to withstand winds of a Category 2 hurricane, despite its exterior being a tent.
Those claims are sure to be scrutinized after a local news reporter, Jason Delgado of Spectrum News 13, captured footage of water seeping into the tent, onto electrical cables, and around flagpoles.
The rain followed shortly after. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
There was no hurricane or severe thunderstorm brewing outside—just typical summer showers that much of the state experiences daily this time of year. RainDrop’s website estimated that about a quarter of an inch of rain fell on Tuesday at the city of Ochopee, which is closest to the tent.
The rain could be heard clearly in Delgado’s videos, and the ceiling appeared to rattle with each drop that struck it.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management told Spectrum that it has taken steps to address the flooding that was experienced on Tuesday.
“Overnight, the vendors went back and tightened any seams at the base of the structures that allowed water intrusion during the heavy storm, which was minimal,” said the spokeswoman, Stephanie Hartman.
The facility, which bizarrely has its own merch sold by Florida Republicans, has been slammed as “dehumanizing” and not safe for detainees. Migrants are expected only to be housed temporarily at the site before being removed from the country, says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who has been described as the architect of Trump’s migrant crackdown, scoffed at suggestions that the massive tent is dehumanizing. Despite it being filled with bunk beds that are separated by internal fences, in the middle of a literal swamp, he said it is not at all overkill for people who entered the United States illegally in search of a better life.
“What’s ‘dehumanizing’ is when American citizens are stripped of their rights and their liberties by the invasion of illegal aliens,” he told Fox News on Tuesday. “What’s ‘dehumanizing’ is when Democrats let illegal alien rapists into the country to attack our children. That is ‘dehumanizing.’”
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