Multiple use-of-force incidents, and a contractor in freefall. Who is really in charge of this facility?
July 18, 2025
By Nick Valencia
A source with direct knowledge of operations tells Nick Valencia News that the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) has assumed day-to-day control at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport (TNT). Rather than restoring order, the takeover appears to be fueling further chaos, with conditions reportedly deteriorating.
In just the past 24 hours, there have been multiple use-of-force incidents at the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz,” according to an insider.
“Inmates are being treated very poorly. It’s being run more like a prison than a detention facility,” the source said, noting that many of those held at TNT have not been tried or convicted.
“FDC staff are horrible to them,” a second source—formerly an official at the facility—told Nick Valencia News, describing incidents of abuse. Eyewitness accounts include “spitting taking place from the inmates and some strikes from correction officers” in retaliation.
Asked about the level of compassion being shown, one source noted that detainees are granted access to cell phones only for their first 13 days in custody.
Meanwhile, the company previously responsible for running the facility—Critical Response Strategies (CRS)—is in freefall, scrambling to contain the backlash after our exclusive reporting exposed its failures.
The Jacksonville-based contractor, awarded a $78.5 million “no-bid contract,” is now cutting ties with its own workforce. Staff are being told to “go home unpaid and with no way to cover their travel,” one insider said.
“CRS is an absolute garbage organization,” the source added bluntly.
Since our reporting, CRS has tried to spin a narrative that it remains partially in control. But at the time of this writing, FDC is reportedly overseeing daily operations. Leadership is in flux, and communications are a mess.
CRS had staffed TNT with camp managers, training coordinators, and safety officers. But leadership failures quickly led to unvetted corrections officers stepping into key roles, creating widespread mismanagement of detainee processing.
“I felt like I was the only one working while everyone else was taking credit,” one former staffer said. The operation, they added, was “very disorganized,” with “leadership involved in doing whatever they wanted.”
The problems extend beyond CRS.
Questionable contracts have surfaced around IRG Global Emergency Management Inc., a Texas-based firm that secured a separate deal to support Alligator Alcatraz. The Miami Herald reported that IRG donated $10,000 to Florida’s Republican Party just days before landing state contracts. That same day, IRG signed a $1.1 million agreement with the state to “provide operational support services in support of migration efforts.”
What’s unfolding inside TNT is more than bureaucratic incompetence—it’s a system defined by cronyism and chaos, where multi-million-dollar deals are awarded with little oversight and competent staff are driven out.
The unraveling raises a critical question: Who is really in control of this facility?
We have reached out to the Florida Department of Corrections for comment.