{"id":175771,"date":"2026-03-03T01:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T01:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/175771\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T01:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T01:15:18","slug":"a-look-at-fls-cost-projections-for-alligator-alcatraz-deportation-depot-tallahassee-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/175771\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look at FL\u2019s Cost Projections for \u2018Alligator Alcatraz,\u2019 \u2018Deportation Depot\u2019 \u2013 Tallahassee Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Liv Caputo, The Florida Phoenix<\/p>\n

For months, the price tag for the Everglades immigrant detention center the DeSantis administration calls \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d was left to media speculation.<\/p>\n

Confusion abounded as various reports estimated the facility could cost anywhere between\u00a0$245 million\u00a0and\u00a0$450 million\u00a0for the year. But analysts weren\u2019t the only ones drawing conjectures.<\/p>\n

So were the emergency managers operating the center.<\/p>\n

According to nearly 3,000\u00a0pages of records\u00a0reviewed by the Phoenix, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) drastically adjusted its calculations at least five times between June and November 2025.<\/p>\n

Each calculation came out higher than the last.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a timeline from June to December of what DEM believed the \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d and \u201cDeportation Depot\u201d migrant detention facilities would cost, and how the agency arrived at those numbers:<\/p>\n

June 23:\u00a0At 7:30 p.m., DEM publishes a 37-page \u201cvendor assignment\u201d manual identifying its hand-picked contractors to construct and operate the site and what their tasks were.DEM picked its no-bid contractors based on their \u201cproven experience.\u201d They were charged with creating facilities including staff villages, climate-controlled sleep trailers, and isolation cells. There would be one officer per 48 detainees during the day, one per 75 at night.\u00a0From June 24-July 7, DEM shelled out $72,708,333.85 to 12 vendors: CDR Health, CRS, Doodie Calls, GardaWorld, Garner, Gothams, Granny\u2019s, IRG, LCDR, LTS, SLS, Garner.June 24:\u00a0Executive Director Kevin Guthrie fills out an early draft application for a federal reimbursement grant \u2014 one that won\u2019t be announced for another month.He projects more than $1.2 billion in spending on detention centers in two years, but expects the federal government to pay $1 billion of that.He tells a Miami ICE agent, confused about which Florida agency should receive the grant, that DEM has been \u201cdesignated\u201d for the award.July 1:\u00a0Alligator Alcatraz opens in the Big Cypress National Preserve, within the Everglades.July 26:\u00a0Guthrie writes to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, asking her to send immigration judges and other personnel to expedite detention and deportation proceedings. He says Florida is constructing its own courtroom at the site.Aug. 1:\u00a0DEM makes a formal request to DHS for judge advocate generals to oversee immigration proceedings.Aug. 7:\u00a0The state formally applies for $608.4 million in federal reimbursement, estimating total costs for detention centers will be $1.4 billion. FEMA denies the request, citing the size of the application and a lack of an environmental review of the premises.Sep. 5:\u00a0Deportation Depot opens at the former Baker Correctional Institution.Sep. 29:\u00a0DEM projects that Alligator Alcatraz and Deportation Depot would cost more than $1.7 billion through July 2027, with approximately $1.1 billion to be footed by the state.\u00a0Floridians would pay $807 million for Alligator Alcatraz and $294 million for Deportation Depot.The remaining $608.4 million would be covered by the federal government.Sep. 30:\u00a0FEMA approves Florida for the federal reimbursement grant \u2014 with a catch.The state still needs to provide detailed reasoning for the costs it wants reimbursed and a federal environmental review still needs to be completed before Florida can use any of those funds.Oct. 20:\u00a0DEM tells FEMA that Alligator Alcatraz cost $390.2 million between June and October.DEM revises its projections, now believing that Alligator Alcatraz alone would cost about $1.065 billion by June 30, 2026. New figures for Deportation Depot weren\u2019t included.Nov. 20:\u00a0The state submits a $1.065 billion application seeking reimbursement of $608.4 million.\u00a0Nov. 26:\u00a0FEMA tells DEM it can request up to $89 million from the grant because these specific allocations aren\u2019t subject to the required environmental review.Dec. 3:\u00a0DEM asks FEMA to strike the environmental requirement altogether, because it believes Alligator Alcatraz shouldn\u2019t be subject to it.Dec. 8:\u00a0DEM submits a $30 million payment request from the grant.Dec. 10:\u00a0FEMA denies it because the environmental review isn\u2019t complete.Dec. 15:\u00a0FEMA sends DEM a new version of the grant that explicitly bans reimbursements going toward modifications for Alligator Alcatraz:\u201cIn the event that the recipient applies for the grant to request reimbursement for costs for modifications at the South Florida Soft Sided Facility, commonly referred to as \u2018Alligator Alcatraz,\u2019 then those costs will not be reimbursed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Timeline of Confusion: A Look at FL\u2019s Cost Projections for \u2018Alligator Alcatraz,\u2019 \u2018Deportation Depot\u2019 added by Staff<\/a> on March 2, 2026
View all posts by Staff \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

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