By Ana Go\u00f1i-Lessan, The News Service of Florida <\/p>\n
One year after it opened, Alligator Alcatraz, the detention center used by Florida and the federal government to house undocumented immigrants, is shutting down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlligator Alcatraz fulfilled the role that it was designed to serve,\u201d Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, the location of the tented immigration detention center.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday it now has zero detainees. It has helped remove many, many dangerous people from the street and get them out, not only the state of Florida, but the United States of America,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Behind a lectern with a sign that read \u201cFlorida Leads on Immigration Enforcement,\u201d DeSantis was joined by White House Border Czar Tom Homan and Florida State Board of Immigration Enforcement Director Anthony Coker.<\/p>\n
DeSantis said Alligator Alcatraz helped the federal government deport 21,000 people, and the state\u2019s other immigration detention center, Deportation Depot in Baker County, will remain open.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue the partnership, we understand the mission continues,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The facility opened July 1, 2025, within days of the start of construction, and was derided by Democrats and critics. It has been the subject of numerous lawsuits on environmental, due process and civil rights grounds that sought to close it down.<\/p>\n
Court records show Alligator Alcatraz has cost the state approximately $1 million per day to run and was estimated to cost more than $1 billion for two years of operations.<\/p>\n
The Florida Division of Emergency Management has overseen the two immigration detention centers, and has used money within the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to pay for their operations.<\/p>\n
Since 2022, lawmakers have deposited $4.77 billion into the fund to respond to natural disasters, like Hurricanes Helene and Idalia. As of this week, the state has approximately $25 million left in the fund.<\/p>\n
DeSantis defended the price tag for illegal immigration enforcement and said the state will be reimbursed by the federal government. The delay in the reimbursements is due to \u201cbureaucracy,\u201d he said, and Florida got a payment just last week from FEMA for immigration-related costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to do whatever it takes to keep people safe, and there\u2019s no question that people are safer as a result of that,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cWe prevented preventable crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homan praised DeSantis\u2019 cooperation with the federal government.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernor DeSantis was one of the first governors to step up,\u201d Homan said.<\/p>\n
All the detainees who were housed at Alligator Alcatraz have been moved to other detention facilities, DeSantis said.<\/p>\n
As for the future of the airstrip, DeSantis said it will continue to be used for training flights. But Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a memo to county commissioners she would pursue \u201cpermanent protection\u201d for the land used for Alligator Alcatraz.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce this facility is decommissioned, we have an opportunity to permanently protect these lands for Everglades restoration and ensure they remain protected for generations to come. That is the legacy we should leave,\u201d Levine Cava said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ana Go\u00f1i-Lessan, The News Service of Florida One year after it opened, Alligator Alcatraz, the detention center…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-320581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320581","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=320581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}