Operations cease at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention centre

In the US, a controversial immigration detention centre built in the Florida swamps known as "Alligator Alcatraz" is being shut down permanently after nearly a year of operation.

This as the US Supreme Court allows the Department of Homeland Security to end temporary protected status for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday the makeshift facility heralded by the Trump administration has served its purpose.

DeSantis says "Alligator Alcatraz", which opened in 2025, was always meant to be only temporary until more permanent centres could be secured. "Alligator Alcatraz fulfilled the role that it was designed to serve. Today, it now has zero detainees."

The governor says the airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades the centre was built around will continue to be used.

US President Donald Trump has noted the detention centre was crucial to Republican efforts to send illegal immigrants back to their home countries.

DeSantis boasts 21,000 people were deported through the facility. "There's no question that this mission has made the state of Florida safer."

The shutdown comes just weeks after an evacuation of detainees to other detention facilities amid fears the tent-based complex would not withstand hurricane season.

Detainees have moaned about their difficulty getting food, toilets that didn't flush, filthy floors, as well as insects including mosquitos inside the facility.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hands the Trump administration a second win Thursday in a 6-3 decision clearing the way for the revival of a policy restricting Haitians and Syrians seeking asylum.

The swift end of TPS, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries, could expose hundreds of thousands more people to potential deportation.

In Springfield, Ohio, Viles Dorsainvil, who runs a support centre for Haitians, says this creates panic as people in the community are wondering about their next steps.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul publicly slams the court ruling, saying "Enough is enough." She says the decision will have severe consequences for the state's economy and health care system.

And New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani also vows the Democrat-led city will fight back.

Mamdani says: "This is a city where we look out for our neighbours, where we don't let those who are afraid of what makes this city great try to divide us, where we reject a politics of fear. Now they may traffic in cruelty, yet we will lead with something even more powerful than that."