Florida Soft Sided South is for US Immigration & Customs Enforcement-ICE offenders have not been sentenced yet and are detained here until their case is heard.
All prisons and jails have Security or Custody levels depending on the inmate’s classification, sentence, and criminal history. Please review the rules and regulations for Medium facility.
If you are unsure of your inmate's location, you can search and locate your inmate by typing in their last name, first name or first initial, and/or the offender ID number to get their accurate information immediately Registered Offenders
The Florida Soft Sided Facility South “Alligator Alcatraz” (ICE) is a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility located at 54575 Tamiami Trail East in Ochopee, FL in Miami-Dade County. This medium-security facility is operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and functions as a holding center for immigration detainees awaiting trial, deportation, or serving sentences following conviction.
To find an ICE inmate, please use the Detainee Locator System with the A-Number search being the most efficient method. The A-number must be exactly nine digits; if shorter, zeros should be added at the beginning. When searching by name, the first and last names must be entered as an exact match, and the detainee's correct country of birth must be selected. Please note that records of individuals under 18 cannot be searched.
Detainees at this facility are assigned to housing based on their custody level, determined by various factors including sentence length and criminal history. The detention center provides a wide range of educational and vocational training programs. Additionally, the facility is equipped to meet most detainee needs, including dietary, health, fitness, education, religious practices, and entertainment. As a privately operated facility, it undergoes frequent inspections to ensure it remains in top condition, maintaining a clean record to secure ongoing government contracts.
The Florida Soft-Sided Facility South Unit, officially referred to in federal court records as the South Florida Detention Facility, known by its widely used nickname, “Alligator Alcatraz”, is a massive temporary immigration detention complex located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport inside Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Florida. The former Everglades Detention facility houses ICE detainees under agreements with the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has become nationally. Public reports and federal filings identify the detention center as having an initial operational capacity of approximately 2,000 detainees, with long-term expansion plans reportedly targeting as many as 5,000 beds. The detention site is managed by the Florida Division of Emergency Management in coordination with DHS and ICE rather than by a traditional county sheriff’s office or Bureau of Prisons warden structure.
Constructed rapidly during 2025 under emergency state authority, the facility was designed as a large-scale soft-sided detention camp using heavy-duty tent structures and temporary support infrastructure capable of housing thousands of immigration detainees. The isolated Everglades location immediately drew national attention because of its remoteness, swamp surroundings, heavy mosquito populations, alligator habitat, and hurricane-prone environment. Florida officials promoted the project as an aggressive expansion of immigration detention capacity during heightened federal immigration enforcement operations, while critics described the camp as a politically charged symbol of hardline immigration policy.
ICE Detainee Information
This facility holds immigration detainees under an active contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in addition to its regular population. ICE detainees are civil immigration detainees, not criminal defendants, and are held while their immigration cases are processed. The rules, rights, and services that apply to ICE detainees differ from those that apply to the general jail population.
To locate an ICE detainee at this facility, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator at locator.ice.gov. You will need the detainee's A-Number, a nine-digit Alien Registration Number that appears on any immigration document they have received. If the A-Number has fewer than nine digits, add zeros at the beginning. If you do not have the A-Number, you can search using the detainee's full legal name, country of birth, and date of birth. Names must be an exact match; try variations if the first search returns no results.
Immigration bond works differently from criminal bail. Not all detainees are eligible for bond; those with certain criminal convictions or prior deportation orders may be subject to mandatory detention. For those who are eligible, bond is set by an immigration judge and typically ranges from $1,500 to over $10,000. Bond must be paid in full before release. An immigration attorney can request a bond hearing and argue for a lower amount based on the detainee's circumstances.
Unlike criminal defendants, ICE detainees do not have the right to a government-appointed attorney. They must hire a private immigration attorney or find free legal help through a nonprofit organization. RAICES provides legal services and bond assistance at raicestexas.org. The National Immigrant Justice Center offers free legal representation at immigrantjustice.org. Many immigration courts also maintain a list of free and low-cost legal service providers available to detainees upon request.
ICE transfers detainees between facilities frequently and with little advance notice, sometimes to locations far from family and legal counsel. If you cannot locate your family member through this page, search the ICE Online Detainee Locator again at locator.ice.gov with their A-Number. If they have an attorney, notify the attorney immediately as transfers affect court appearances and case timelines.
The facility quickly became one of the most controversial immigration detention centers in the United States. Civil rights organizations, immigration attorneys, environmental groups, Native American advocates, and federal lawmakers raised concerns involving alleged overcrowding, inadequate medical care, sanitation issues, limited legal access, insect infestations, flooding concerns, and detainee treatment conditions. Multiple lawsuits filed in federal court challenged both operational practices and the legality of the detention center itself, including allegations that detainees were denied meaningful attorney access and held in unsafe conditions. In March 2026, a federal court ordered ICE and Florida officials to improve detainee access to legal counsel after testimony described major communication barriers and poor detention conditions inside the camp.
One of the facility’s most distinguishing characteristics is that it became the first state-operated immigration detention center in the nation functioning directly under broad state emergency powers while simultaneously supporting federal immigration enforcement. Court filings revealed that numerous Florida agencies were granted immigration enforcement authority under DHS agreements connected to operations at the facility. Unlike traditional county jails or federal detention centers, daily operations involve a hybrid structure combining state emergency management personnel, contracted detention staff, Florida National Guard involvement, and federal ICE oversight. The facility’s rapid construction timeline and unusual governance model generated extensive national media coverage and ongoing legal scrutiny throughout 2025 and 2026.
