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<\/a>\nDeSantis announces end of operations at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’<\/p>\n
Despite saying as recently as June 16 that the Florida immigrant detention center<\/a> known as “Alligator Alcatraz” was still in operation, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that it has closed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement on June 16 that said the agency has transferred all detainees from the detention center to other facilities.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we enter into hurricane season, ICE and the state of Florida have moved illegal aliens from the soft-sided facility,\u201d officials said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times. \u201cFor the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n That statement did not address how many detainees were transferred, where they were taken, or if the facility will be reopened after storm season.<\/p>\n However, when DeSantis was asked about the facility that same day, he said he was told the facility is not empty, but noted that “Alligator Alcatraz” was always intended to be temporary until the federal government had the funding and the facilities in place to ramp up immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n Speaking Thursday, June 25, DeSantis said that the detention facility “led to almost 21,000 deportations.”<\/p>\n “I have no doubt that, when you start talking about 21,000 folks, that is, without question, has made our state safer and has made the country safer as well,” he said.<\/p>\n “We’re proud to be able to be in this fight,” he added. “But at the same time, you know, I said from the beginning that this was a emergency solution that would be temporary \u2014 that once DHS had the wherewithal to be able to handle these illegal aliens, particularly the criminal illegal aliens, that they would be able to do so and we would still help … but in terms of us managing this facility, the minute that’s no longer needed we would obviously break down the facility. So Alligator Alcatraz fulfilled the role that it was designed to serve.”<\/p>\n DeSantis said the facility currently is not housing any detainees.<\/p>\n The embattled facility has faced numerous legal challenges since it opened at a little-used airstrip in the Everglades in mid-2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to information from the state, the federal government has so far reimbursed $58 million of the $608 million Florida has requested to cover the cost of the detention center. DeSantis said Thursday that he expected the federal government to reimburse the state for the full amount.<\/p>\n Groups in St. Pete seek to increase voter education<\/p>\n The city of St. Pete is renewing its voter education initiative ahead of the 2026 election.<\/p>\n Officials say it\u2019s because this will be a historic election for voters in the city with all the seats up for grabs.<\/p>\n People involved with the League of Women Voters are no stranger to voter drives and voter education.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always out in the community at every event, all the community events, the Pride events, the Juneteenth events. We go and churches will invite us to tables,\u201d Heidi Davis with the League of Women Voters St. Pete said.<\/p>\n Davis is the co-chair of the league\u2019s voter services team. She says their message is non-partisan and clear; it\u2019s critical to be educated about voting.<\/p>\n \u201cLearning voting 101, how to vote, where to vote, we talk about what\u2019s on the ballot. We summarize the amendments and explain them to people so people understand them in plain English, and we want to educate the voters,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n Davis says she was happy to hear the city of St. Petersburg is launching a renewed voter education effort called St. Pete Votes! They are taking a similar approach with information materials at recreation centers, libraries and community events.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s never enough. I mean there\u2019s never enough education, I don\u2019t care what the topic is,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch says the initiative was vital to bring back because this is such a historic election for the city.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an important election, from the U.S. Senator from Florida to local elections. And the rules have changed. And we always want to focus on folks being educated, registered, and then participating, and that\u2019s doubly important this year because some of the rules have changed,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n Welch is one of six candidates running for mayor of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n The voting initiative first launched in 2024 and will allow partnerships with neighborhood associations, local organizations, and community leaders to share voter education information.<\/p>\n The goal is to get more people registered and out to vote in August and November.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a right that so many folks have given their lives for, and we need to exercise that,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the message the city, the League of Women Voters, and other grassroots organizations say they plan to push from now until November.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Alligator Alcatraz was winding down operations during an event Thursday, and a group…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[2198,52520,28,115,139,2206,275,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,835],"class_list":["post-320163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-political-connections","tag-data-centers","tag-florida","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-political-connections","tag-spectrum-news-staff","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320163","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=320163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}