{"id":265061,"date":"2026-05-09T19:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T19:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/265061\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T19:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T19:28:13","slug":"citing-florida-officials-ashley-moody-says-its-time-to-move-on-from-alligator-alcatraz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/265061\/","title":{"rendered":"Citing ‘Florida officials,’ Ashley Moody says it’s time to ‘move on’ from Alligator Alcatraz"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a good run for Florida\u2019s immigrant detention facility in the Everglades, which state leaders opened last year on spec as part of a round-up of undocumented aliens starting when President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a> returned to office.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to \u201cAlligator Alcatraz<\/a>,\u201d Sen.\u00a0Ashley Moody<\/a> is saying that the lock-up has done its job and that its mission has been fulfilled, after it was opened to handle detainees the federal government couldn\u2019t handle.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince then, there have been other detention alternatives opened, and I think you\u2019re hearing from Florida officials that they feel it\u2019s served its purpose, and we can now move on to more permanent structures,\u201d the Plant City Republican and former state Attorney General said Saturday on \u201cFox News Live<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moody\u2019s comments jibe with those of the person who appointed her to the Senate.<\/p>\n

Gov.\u00a0Ron DeSantis<\/a>\u00a0said this week that it would be \u201cgreat for us to break that facility down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/a> reports that operations cost $1 million a day. While the Department of Homeland Security reportedly cut the state a check for $668 million, it has yet to be delivered.<\/p>\n

Attorney General\u00a0James Uthmeier<\/a> said this year he expects the state to \u201clargely be reimbursed,<\/a>\u201d but that\u2019s a term of art.<\/p>\n

The Department of Justice says any reimbursement would cover \u201coperational costs,\u201d not the estimated $245 million spent on \u201cconstruction or facility modification,\u201d suggesting that the infrastructural costs will come at the expense of traditional priorities of the state, such as health care, corrections, infrastructure and funding nonprofits.<\/p>\n

For his part, DeSantis is untroubled, saying that FEMA reimbursements take a long time and that he has been buttonholing Border Czar\u00a0Tom Homan to pay the state back.<\/p>\n

Regarding the facility\u2019s future, DHS hasn\u2019t said what its plans are.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAny reports that DHS is pressuring the state to cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz are false,\u201d a spokesperson said. \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<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been a good run for Florida\u2019s immigrant detention facility in the Everglades, which state leaders opened last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3120,3853,6204,28,30,29,114179,412],"class_list":["post-265061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-alligator-alcatraz","tag-ashley-moody","tag-department-of-homeland-security","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-fox-news-live","tag-ron-desantis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265061","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=265061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}