EXCLUSIVE: Inside "Alligator Alcatraz" How America's Newest Immigration Facility Descended Into Chaos

They’re losing track of inmates. High-risk detainees are being mixed in with low-risk ones. Unvetted guards. No radios. No hurricane plan. Nick Valencia News has obtained exclusive details

By Nick Valencia

July 15, 2025

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A Facility in Crisis

The facility commonly referred to as "Alligator Alcatraz" is, according to one insider, a dysfunctional dystopia—so disorganized that high-risk detainees are reportedly being mixed in with low-risk individuals, facility staff can’t even say for sure who’s in their custody, and there are serious questions about some of the unvetted guards now in charge. The private company now overseeing operations has no experience running an immigration facility.

In an exclusive interview with Nick Valencia News, a source with intimate knowledge of the site said it has become a breeding ground for confusion and risk, where private security contractors are reportedly profiting while systems meant to ensure accountability collapse.

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Classification Failures

The Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, or TNT—as those on the ground refer to it—was supposed to be a streamlined immigration holding center. Instead, it has become so poorly run that it poses a security risk to those on site. Confusion and chaos appear to be the baseline.

Detainees at TNT are separated by colored wristbands: yellow for low-risk, orange for medium, and red for high-risk. But these classifications are inconsistently applied—and dangerously misunderstood.

“The facility is receiving these inmates without classification,” the source said. “In many cases, we don’t even know if they are level one or level four.”

Wristbands are frequently “too loose, easily removed,” and provide no reliable means of control. In some cases, detainees classified as high-risk have been mixed in with lower-level populations.

The source did not explain why there were three colors but four levels of classification. They did not reply to a follow-up question.

Perhaps more serious: it’s increasingly unclear what, if any, serious criminal history exists among the migrants in custody.

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A Revolving Door of Leadership

Until recently, the facility was under “compassionate and respected” senior leadership as described by those on the ground.

That same leadership was abruptly replaced by state officials and a private contractor with no experience or infrastructure.

The Florida Department of Corrections, in coordination with the Florida Division of Emergency Management, has now handed operational control over to Critical Response Strategies (CRS), a Tallahassee-based company.

According to the source, CRS has expertise in emergency management, but no prior experience running a detention facility. Their arrival has only deepened the chaos.