{"id":269267,"date":"2026-05-13T10:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/269267\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T10:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:50:07","slug":"alligator-alcatraz-may-close-by-june-as-florida-plans-to-relocate-1400-detainees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/269267\/","title":{"rendered":"Alligator Alcatraz may close by June as Florida plans to relocate 1,400 detainees"},"content":{"rendered":"

OCHOPEE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades could shutter operations as soon as June, according to CBS News.<\/p>\n

According to reports, companies hired by the state of Florida to operate \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d<\/a> were told Tuesday that the facility is shutting down and that the remaining 1,400 detainees will be relocated in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

CBS News reports the closure comes as operating costs are estimated to escalate to $1 billion. One source told CBS News the last detainee could leave the facility by June.<\/p>\n

Speculation about the closure of Alligator Alcatraz began last week after Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a> said during a news conference that the facility was always meant to be temporary.<\/p>\n

During the conference, the Florida governor said, \u201cIf we shut the lights out tomorrow, we would be able to say it served its purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement to vendors on Tuesday was Alligator Alcatraz\u2019s first formal acknowledgment that the facility is closing and would cease operations relatively quickly. CBS News reported that the notification to vendors was delivered at the site by the Florida Department of Emergency Management.<\/p>\n

See also: Boca Raton moves to hire consultant for resident-driven civic master plan near Brightline<\/a><\/p>\n

CBS News reports that once the roughly 1,400 detainees currently housed at the facility are transferred or deported, state officials plan to begin dismantling the site, including removing fencing, trailers and other temporary structures in the Everglades. According to CBS News, that process is expected to take two to three weeks, after which the property will return to operating as a small airport used for pilot training.<\/p>\n

CBS News reports the decision to close \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d was primarily driven by rising operating costs, despite the facility previously being praised by President Donald Trump as a model for other states to follow.<\/p>\n

Alligator Alcatraz was approved by the federal government in June <\/a>and opened in July. The facility was built using taxpayer money. CBS News reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis had previously said Florida would be fully reimbursed by the federal government for costs tied to the facility, including a $608 million request that was approved late last year, but those funds have since been delayed amid court challenges, environmental concerns and other complications.<\/p>\n

Sources told CBS Miami that while the state will be reimbursed for the $608 million, there is no guarantee that an additional $300 million will be covered by the federal government.<\/p>\n

The concern that Florida taxpayers might have to cover additional costs prompted officials to move quickly toward closing the facility, CBS Miami reported.<\/p>\n

Another source familiar with the vendor contracts told CBS Miami, \u201cWe have been told that we should be paid [from that original $608 million request] in the next few weeks, but the state is going to have to pick up the difference or work with the feds to convince them to cover the balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS News reports the final cost to Florida taxpayers will likely not be known until the facility is fully shut down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OCHOPEE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades could shutter operations as soon as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-269267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269267","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=269267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}