- DHS OIG said ICE had not inspected Baker County or scheduled reviews for FY 2026 or FY 2027.
- Inspectors found 79 detainees held in 18-square-foot metal enclosures for up to nearly two hours.
- Florida owed vendors at least $1.4 billion as unpaid bills piled up across detention operations.
The DHS Office of Inspector General has raised fresh questions about Florida’s Baker County detention center after finding that ICE had not internally inspected the site or scheduled reviews for FY 2026 or FY 2027. ICE records listed the facility’s contractually obligated standards as “N/A,” the watchdog said in a report issued on September 12, 2026. The site had not been reviewed by ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight.
The report examined conditions at Florida’s former Alligator Alcatraz detention facility, which closed in June 2026. The Baker County operation remained open in North Florida.
The federal findings did not state that the Baker County facility had reproduced the conditions found at the closed site. They documented an inspection and standards gap involving the operating center.
Inspectors found 79 detainees confined in small metal enclosures measuring about 18 square feet. Detention in those spaces lasted from several minutes to nearly two hours.
The use of the metal enclosures was “highly unconventional” and did “not align with the standards for humane treatment,” the inspector general report said.
The report also said housing units at full capacity provided only 28 square feet per detainee, compared with 75 square feet referenced in national standards. Detainees showered three times a week, and inspectors documented insect infestations in the showers.
The findings covered medical care, food service, hygiene, recreation and overcrowding. The Department of Homeland Security issued 10 recommendations to address deficiencies at the inspected facility.
The closed site left Baker County as the unresolved oversight question
DHS said it would not implement those recommendations because the inspected facility had permanently closed. The decision left the operating Baker County center as the other facility identified in the report’s oversight discussion.
The center operates from the former Baker Correctional Institute in Sanderson. It is Florida’s North Florida detention site, while the Everglades operation opened in 2025 as a state-run immigration detention facility.
More than 1,000 people were detained at the Baker center as of late August. The Everglades facility held about 1,500 detainees at the time of the January inspection.
The Baker site remained open when the report was published. The report said it had not received an internal inspection and was not scheduled for one in either of the two fiscal years identified by the watchdog.
Unclear responsibility leaves detention standards in a gray area
An official described the jurisdictional confusion in terms tied to detention oversight.
The situation was “so gray as to whose place this is … and which standards to follow,” the report said.
The watchdog added a broader warning:
“The absence of well-defined standards at detention facilities increases the risk that detainees may not receive appropriate care.”
The report’s concerns extend to the structure governing medical care, food service, hygiene, recreation and living space. They also raise questions about who holds inspection duties when state and federal authorities share operational roles.
The distinction between a state-operated facility and an ICE-supervised facility can affect inspection obligations and compliance authority. It may also shape disputes over detention conditions and the care provided to people held there.
Florida’s detention system is carrying a large unpaid bill
The oversight questions emerged as Florida’s immigration detention program faced financial pressure. State reporting in early September 2026 said the DeSantis administration had promised at least $1.4 billion to vendors connected to the state’s detention operations.
Hundreds of invoices remained unpaid. The outstanding balances included costs tied to the closed Everglades facility and ongoing costs at the Baker operation.
Those figures add a financial issue to the concerns over facility management. Florida’s payments to vendors remain connected to both the former site and the center still holding detainees.
Florida officials defended the closed site as scrutiny widened
Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, described the closed facility as its operations wound down.
“It served its purpose for the time,” DeSantis said. “The demobilization efforts at this facility are underway.”
A DHS spokesperson defended the site’s standards and rejected allegations about its conditions.
The facility was “consistent with the same federal detention standards employed by previous administrations, including Biden and Obama,” the spokesperson said. “All detainee facilities are clean, and any allegations of inhumane conditions or excessive use of force are FALSE.”
DHS’s response focused on the closed facility, while the watchdog also identified the inspection and contract-record issues involving the Baker center.
The next test will be whether federal inspectors enter Baker County
The report’s implications now turn on how ICE and Florida define responsibility for the operating facility. A state-operated site may also involve federal supervision, but the governing arrangement determines inspection obligations and enforcement authority.
That question could affect future challenges involving detention conditions, oversight failures or care provided to detainees. The report does not establish that Baker detainees experienced the same conditions found at the Everglades facility.
As of September 16, 2026, the Baker center remained open after the June closure of the Everglades site. Whether the facility is treated as state-operated, ICE-supervised or both will help determine who must set standards and enforce them.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
