- The federal government reimbursed Florida $608 million for two state-run immigration facilities.
- The FEMA payment covers the construction and management of the “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Deportation Depot” facilities.
- Critics argue the federal funding requires an environmental review for the “Alligator Alcatraz” site.
The federal government reimbursed the state of Florida over a half-billion dollars for its state-run immigration facilities the day before the nationwide government shutdown.
The Executive Office of the Governor confirmed late on Oct. 2 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave the state $608 million to pay for the construction and management of Alligator Alcatraz and Deportation Depot, which Florida officials say are totally state-run facilities.
Alligator Alcatraz is the first detention facility in Florida set up for immigrants, located in the Everglades in the unused Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Collier County. Deportation Depot is another immigration detention facility set up at the shuttered Baker Correctional Institution in northwest Florida.
Gov. Ron DeSantis also posted on X: “Another bogus narrative bites the dust. I said all along that we would be reimbursed.”
A local news station in Miami broke the news earlier in the day, saying the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed the state was awarded the full amount on Sept. 30, a day before the federal government shut down. Questions about the payment are pending with DHS.
As previously reported, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said the costs for Alligator Alcatraz would be reimbursed with FEMA money that was “used to bring aliens into this country.”
Under the Biden administration, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol funds were granted to states as a part of FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program to help local governments and nonprofit groups to shelter and provide other services to immigrants. These funds were not diverted from FEMA’s emergency response budget.
DeSantis said the future FEMA payout would not conflict with state control of Alligator Alcatraz.
“I don’t think it really changes anything, because it’s still state property and it’s a state mission,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Tallahassee on Sept. 30.
Lawsuit against Alligator Alcatraz still pending
The state and the federal government are defendants in a lawsuit from the Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida on grounds that the state failed to conduct an environmental review on the land where Alligator Alcatraz is located.
An environmental study is required to comply with federal laws, and critics say the FEMA funds cement the federal government’s involvement in the facility.
“This seems to be the smoking gun proving that our lawsuit challenging Alligator Alcatraz is entirely correct,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity in a press release.
“This is a federal project being built with federal funds that’s required by federal law to go through a complete environmental review. The Trump administration can’t keep lying through their teeth to the American public at the expense of Florida’s imperiled wildlife.
“We’ll do everything we can to stop this lawless, destructive and wasteful debacle,” Bennett added.
Alligator Alcatraz, in the Big Cypress National Preserve, was the first detention facility the state opened. Before the facility received its first detainees on July 3, DeSantis and other Florida officials gave a tour to President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Less than a month in, state contracts showed the facility cost more than $250 million to set up and was expected to cost $450 million per year.
On Aug. 21, a federal district court judge issued a temporary restraining order to halt any further construction of the South Florida Detention Facility. That order was clawed back in early September by a federal appeals court, however, which said the state had a case as it had yet to receive any federal funds and therefore was not subject to environmental study requirements.
“The state and federal government continue to dodge their responsibility for complying with environmental laws, and the Everglades are paying the price,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, in a press release.
“The award of FEMA funds is more clear evidence that activity at Alligator Alcatraz must be halted to comply with bedrock environmental protections.”
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.
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