{"id":262460,"date":"2026-05-07T20:10:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262460\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T20:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:10:16","slug":"federal-officials-not-pressuring-florida-to-close-everglades-detention-center-dhs-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262460\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal officials not pressuring Florida to close Everglades detention center, DHS says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">DHS is denying reports that the federal government seeks to close \u201cAlligator Alcatraz,\u201d the contentious migrant detention center in the Everglades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cAny reports that DHS is pressuring the state to cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz are false,\u201d the agency said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The statement follows reports indicating that federal officials are contemplating reducing or terminating operations at the facility due to increasing scrutiny over expenses, environmental issues, and ongoing legal disputes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">DHS also addressed questions surrounding federal reimbursement funding tied to the site, saying the agency is still reviewing Florida\u2019s requests before any money is released.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cDHS reviews reimbursement requests for grant funding to ensure costs are allowable and validated expenses that are eligible for reimbursement prior to releasing funding,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Everglades detention center, known as Alligator Alcatraz by critics and supporters alike, has remained a flashpoint in the national immigration debate since opening last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Click here;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Click here&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:click here;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;click here&quot;}\" class=\"link \">click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"ct:story;elm:img;itc:0;\" class=\"stretched-box\" href=\"https:\/\/wftvapps.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"537\" height=\"108\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/beda08358d6db9816e7b0d066edd22cf.jpeg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DHS is denying reports that the federal government seeks to close \u201cAlligator Alcatraz,\u201d the contentious migrant detention center&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3120,36038,3879,28,30,29,13330],"class_list":["post-262460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-alligator-alcatraz","tag-detention-center","tag-everglades","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-the-federal-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}