![\"Workers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_2025-07-03AD1629AlligatorAcatraz.JPG\" "\\"Workers")
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Workers install a permanent Alligator Alcatraz sign. The facility is within the Florida Everglades, 36 miles west of the central business district of Miami, in Collier County, Florida. , Florida, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. <\/p>\n
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ<\/p>\n
adiaz@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
The DeSantis administration is talking with the federal government about shutting down Alligator Alcatraz, according to a new report.<\/p>\n
Citing anonymous sources, The New York Times reported<\/a> on Thursday that federal officials were in preliminary talks to close the controversial Everglades facility due to the high costs of operating the first-of-its-kind state-run detention camp for immigrants.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday in a statement that \u201cany reports that DHS is pressuring the state to cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz are false.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFlorida continues to be a valuable partner in advancing President Trump\u2019s immigration agenda, and DHS appreciates their support. DHS continuously evaluates detention needs and requirements to ensure they meet the latest operational requirements,\u201d the DHS spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The Florida Division of Emergency Management, which oversees the detention center\u2019s operations, and the governor\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment on the site\u2019s possible closure.<\/p>\n When the detention center opened last summer, the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated it would cost $450 million annually to operate. The federal government had promised to reimburse the DeSantis administration for costs related to transforming 6,000 acres of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport into a temporary tent detention center.<\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security later committed $608 million from a detention grant program to the state, but in court filings, federal officials emphasized that they had yet to make any reimbursement payments and would pay only the per-detainee cost, leaving Florida taxpayers to cover any tab related to the detention center\u2019s construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n Records obtained by environmental groups show<\/a> that within the first months of operation, the DeSantis administration burned through $390 million. According to the records, the state had planned on spending more than $1 billion of taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n After spending millions of dollars to hastily erect and operate the site, through no-bid contracts, the DeSantis administration had become cost conscious, arguing last month<\/a> in a First Amendment case brought on by detainees at the facility that it could not fulfill a court order requiring it to purchase new phones for the detainees to use because it was too costly.<\/p>\n The Times reported that some of the private contractors have been struggling to front the costs of operating the site in the middle of the Everglades.<\/p>\n