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By Hugh Cameron and Billal Rahman
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The Florida immigration detention facility widely known as “Alligator Alcatraz” is closing its doors, with detainees being relocated as the center undergoes a costly wind-down less than a year after opening.
In a press conference on Thursday morning, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that there were no more detainees at the center, and that the facility would be permanently decommissioned, having fulfilled its purpose of supporting federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Speaking to reporters alongside White House Border Czar Tom Homan, DeSantis said the facility was an "emergency solution" and was always intended to be temporary, adding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now had the "wherewithal" to house and deport immigrants without state-level assistance.
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Since its inception last year, the soft-sided site in the Everglades was often pointed to as a symbol of Florida’s support for President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, and drew praise from the president himself, who said it would help house and deport “the worst of the worst.”
Even before it opened last July, the facility attracted criticism from environmental and human rights groups, citing ecological risks and calling it “cruel.” The facility also faced multiple reports of unsanitary and inhuman conditions faced by the thousands of detainees held there.
And with Florida officials still seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in construction and operating costs from the federal government, and reportedly drawing down their emergency funds ahead of what is expected to be a harsh hurricane season, the facility’s brief life span has come with significant financial challenges.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) ended up spending $406 million from its Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, according to Florida Phoenix, to tackle illegal immigration in the six months between August and February, a figure that ballooned compared to previous years as it ramped up operations at the Everglades site. This included flights to and from Alligator Alcatraz, as well as restaurant tabs and attorney fees for defending the state’s facilities, prompting the Florida legislature to impose some guardrails on the state’s emergency fund, which will take effect in July. In May, Transparency Florida—a state-run accountability website—reported that FDEM had spent an additional $45.3 million from the fund to cover invoices for the 2025-2026 budget year.
And according to the Florida Phoenix, the emergency fund has been rapidly depleted amid efforts to wind down the facility. The outlet said that, as of Monday, the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund had fallen to $25.6 million, down from $47 million the previous Thursday.
Newsweek reached out to FDEM—which led the construction and operation of the facility—on Wednesday for comment.
When Is Alligator Alcatraz Closing?
The confirmation from DeSantis comes after several signs indicated the facility would soon wind down operations.
Several sources familiar with the operation this week told CBS News that contractors and vendors had been ordered to begin a “full demobilization” at the South Florida Detention Facility, ahead of its reopening as a training airport for pilots.
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Republican Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who helped lead the push to open the center, said a press conference on Monday that the facility was “no longer necessary” and was never intended to be a permanent operation.
“The plan has always been to protect the Everglades and take it back to a protected area where it’s not a commercial business,” he continued.
These comments came after Democratic Florida Representative Maxwell Frost visited the site, reported dwindling staff and detainee numbers, saying on X, “What I saw is a facility that is being wound down and shut down.”
And a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Newsweek in a statement over email that detainees were being moved from the “soft-sided facility” due to the oncoming hurricane season, even though many were housed there during the peak of last year’s hurricane season.
“For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities,” the spokesperson said.
Alligator Alcatraz’s Brief History
Upon opening last July, the facility became the first one run by the state to house federal immigration detainees, with Florida DeSantis describing it as a “bridge” to support the DHS as it ramped up deportation efforts.
In a press conference last month, DeSantis said that even if the state “shut the lights out on it tomorrow, we will be able to say it served its purpose because it was responsible for helping with almost 22,000 illegal aliens.”
But even before reports of its closure emerged, the facility was a subject of lawsuits from environmental groups, had federal judges ordering it to cease operations, and faced criticism from human rights organizations like Amnesty International.
Newsweek has previously reported on the conditions faced by detainees, including alleged limited access to medical care and legal representation, sleep deprivation, insufficient food and contaminated water.
How Much Has Alligator Alcatraz Cost?
As well as the raised concerns for detainees, the amount being spent by the state on the facility has also emerged as a major criticism among Florida lawmakers.
Anna Eskamani, a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, told Newsweek that she had called for greater transparency from FDEM over the total costs associated with Alligator Alcatraz and related facilities.
“Every time I've asked, we've been ignored or given highly redacted files,” she said. “In fact, the only documents I have been able to acquire were through my own means using online databases for government contracts and once I started sharing those early documents with members of the press, the DeSantis Administration removed them from the online databases and replaced them with highly redacted versions.”
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According to court records obtained by The Florida Trib, the state sought $1.5 billion from the federal government to help open and run the facility.
However, the state has ended up fronting the costs for Alligator Alcatraz—though DeSantis has said Florida will be reimbursed by the federal government. Officials initially projected the site would cost around $450 million each year to operate at around $245 a day per bed, higher than the estimated daily average of $187 for ICE detention.
But records obtained by The Florida Trib in March revealed that the state was spending $1.2 million each day—reaching $3 million during its opening weeks—which corresponded to around $860 per day for the 1,400 detainees.
One of the most criticized expenditures was the amount drawn down from Florida’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, created in 2022 to give the governor quick access to money during emergencies but regularly derided by critics as a poorly regulated “slush fund.”
“It didn't exist prior to 2021 and Florida responded to natural disasters effectively and efficiently,” said Eskamani. “This fund was only created for political purposes and should not exist.”
Transparency Florida reports that FDEM has this year spent almost $460 million from the fund on efforts to combat illegal immigration, draining it even as the state grapples with weather-related emergencies such as wildfires and hurricanes.
“Absolutely not,” Eskamani told Newsweek, when asked whether the now-shuttering facility was an appropriate use of Florida’s disaster-preparedness funds.
“The current wildfires and the risks involved with hurricane season are both reasons why emergency response dollars should be reserved for legitimate emergencies, not political agendas as we have seen today,” she added.
Hurricane season officially began on June 1 and lasts through November 30, according to FDEM, peaking from mid-August through mid-October.
“Early action drives tangible results, and Florida residents should begin their preparations now,” FDEM Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said last month. “Though last season produced minimal activity in Florida, we remain extremely vulnerable to hurricanes and their associated hazards.”
State officials have hoped and maintained that they will be reimbursed for the estimated $1.2 billion spent on the facility through a $608 million federal grant. But the Trump administration has so far paid Florida only $58 million from FEMA funds, according to the Phoenix, while denying that they ever agreed to repay the state in full.
Lawyers for the Department of Justice have said federal funds may only be used to reimburse operational costs rather than the construction and modification of the facility itself, and Florida’s attorney general acknowledged in February that the hundreds of millions may never “materialize.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Alfred Joyner and Geoffrey Rowland.
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