Alligator Alcatraz
1 26 FRMR disambig see conc camp
CRONY CAPL MEBBE DISASTER CAPL CORPS
EMERGENCY DECLAR DESANTIS
---
3 26 just heard about gop contractor?
---
---
---
---
3 26
Alligator Alcatraz - Wikipedia
South Florida Detention Facility, nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz,[a][3][4] is an immigration detention facility located at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport inside Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Florida, United States. Controversy continues related to possible federal funding[5] for this first state-run facility within the context of immigration to the United States.[6][7]
Federal instances, including Homeland Security,[8] and the state government, represented by attorney general of Florida, James Uthmeier and the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis ^[9] closely partnered on this facility as early as June 2025.[10] In early August 2025, the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed reception of a grant application from state officials and, on August 15, provided the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) with instructions related to the use of the US$608 million funds.[11] The facility has faced lawsuits filed by environmental groups,[12] civil liberties groups, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; additionally, its legality has been questioned by a coalition of 67 members of Congress, led by Jeff Merkley and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.[13]
Criticism generally focus on inhumane conditions faced by its detainees,[14] its environmental impact,[15], the protection of ancestral lands,[16] and funding.[17] In August 2025, U.S. district judge Kathleen Williams granted a preliminary injunction halting construction and prohibiting the government from transferring any additional detainees to the site, which was later stayed by the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit allowing continued operations.[18][19] }:}:
In December 2025, the report "Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Krome in Florida" published by Amnesty International concluded that the camp's conditions, including routine and prolonged use of shackles and retention in a "box" described as a 2x2 foot cage-like structure "constitutes torture".[20]
Human rights organizations and legal experts claim the camp does not meet the minimum standards of human treatment required for persons detained under international law due to the declared absence of sanitary facilities, medical care and access to legal advice with potential violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT).[21]}:
Location
[
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JET_TAKES_OFF_FROM_MIAMI-DADE_JETPORT_IN_EVERGLADES_-NARA_-544491.jpg)Takeoff of an airplane at the Everglades Jetport, July 1972
Located in the Everglades, the Big Cypress area was proposed to become the site of a new Miami Jetport and construction began in 1968 as Everglades Jetport. In 1969, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, author of The Everglades: River of Grass, founded Friends of the Everglades. Construction was halted in 1970 due to efforts of Native Americans including Buffalo Tiger, hunters, environmental concerns related to the Big Cypress Swamp and the cancellation of the 2707 Boeing program. By that point only one 10,500-foot (3,200 m) runway was built, the facility occupying 39 square miles (100 km2).[22]
Following continued efforts to federally protect the area, Big Cypress National Preserve became one of the first National preserves in the United States National Park System on October 11, 1974.[23] The Big Cypress National Preserve provides the Miccosukee, Seminole and Traditional people with permanent rights to occupy and use the land in traditional ways. In addition, they have first rights to develop income-producing businesses related to the resources and use of the preserve, such as guided tours.[24]
[
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alligator_Alcatraz_on_2025-08-04_%284%29.jpg)Road sign located at the entrance of the facility
State officials have argued that the facility's location and its susceptibility to hurricanes will encourage undocumented immigrants to self-deport.[25]
Big Cypress National Preserve was designated a DarkSky International park in 2016; the nation's first preserve to achieve "dark sky" status.[26]
History
Background
During his second and current tenure, President Donald Trump and his administration have pursued a deportation policy characterized as "hardline" ^[27] and "maximalist".[28] Trump has called for "huge camps"[29] where migrants would be held in internment camps prior to deportation.[30] On May 31, 2025, the Supreme Court approved the end of migrants' humanitarian legal status as part of mass deportation, but also highlighted the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of due process.[31] Federal funding for the policy was voted by the U.S. Senate budget reconciliation bill on July 1, 2025, which includes $45 billion for immigration detention centers, a 265% increase to ICE's annual detention budget.[32]
:{:{DeSantis invoked a standing 2023 immigration "state of emergency" to seize the county-owned airfield and fast-track construction[33] without the usual environmental reviews or the traditional collaboration with local officials.[34]}:
Both Democratic Party and Republican legislators[35] have questioned the use and overreach of emergency powers.[36] Demographers from Florida State University found that the number of immigrants without legal status in Florida has declined since 2018, concluding "that policies that discourage new arrivals or encourage — or force — migrants to leave could jeopardize Florida's robust economy and the well-being of its population."[37]}:
Naming
On June 19, 2025, Uthmeier publicly announced the detention center in a video posted to Twitter, in which he called it "Alligator Alcatraz." U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem joined DeSantis and other Florida state leaders on July 1, 2025, for the facility's opening. Trump praised it, saying, "It might be as good as the real Alcatraz," adding it's "a little controversial, but I couldn't care less."[38]
In July 2025, Florida officials and several sources announced "Alligator Alcatraz" as the official name of the facility.[39][40][41] The Tampa Bay Times and The Palm Beach Post described the speed of the construction as causing confusion on whether it was an official name or simply a branding effort, with a spokesman for the Florida Attorney General saying, "Yes, it is the official name". "Alligator Alcatraz" appeared on signs outside the facility.[39][40] Some sources have stated that the official name is the "South Florida Detention Facility".[3][42]
Political responses
On June 23, 2025, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wrote to the Florida Division and stated, "With the federal and state government investing well over $10 billion since 2019 in Everglades restoration and protection, we would appreciate a detailed analysis and report on environmental impacts of this facility to the Everglades."[12]
After the facility's announcement, the Republican Party of Florida began to market "Alligator Alcatraz" merchandise, including hats, shirts, and koozies with AI-generated images, while the state of Florida also handed out "official Alligator Alcatraz merch" to conservative influencers.[39] Critics found the fundraising pitch cruel and inaccurate as hundreds of people being held there are not facing any criminal charges and the facility could be described as a concentration camp.[43]
On July 2, Janelle Bynum, Maxwell Alejandro Frost and 22 other members of Congress wrote to Noem deploring that "detainees will be kept in tents with inadequate sanitation facilities and will face unbearable living conditions," including "exposure to deadly pathogens, constant threats from unpredictable flooding and extreme weather events, and daily temperatures averaging 90 degrees, with a heat index often over 100 degrees Fahrenheit."[44]
In July, Florida Representative Anna Eskamani and State Senator Shevrin Jones joined lawmakers in suing DeSantis in order to gain access to the site. After their visit, they deplored the sanitary conditions, with Eskamani stating that the detention camp is "a political stunt with environmental damage and everyday lives being harmed. It needs to close immediately."[45]
In February 2026, Florida House Republicans, led by Griff Griffits of Panama City Beach, introduced a bill, supported by Democrates, that would prohibit the use of Florida emergency funding for the camp, reserving the funds for "natural disasters only”.[46]
Construction and operational costs
Originally estimated to cost US$450 million a year to operate,[47] the Federal Government has promised to reimburse the state of Florida US$608 million in expenses.[48][49] Each bed was expected to cost $245 a day, more than the average estimated daily cost of detention of $187 for ICE.[50] A team of private companies[51][52] was mobilized to build the facility and the Florida National Guard deployed to secure the site.[53][54] The Florida Division of Emergency Management and the governor's office bypassed procurement and competitive bidding rules and selected IRG Global Emergency Management, who had given $10,000 to Florida's Republican Party on June 24, 2025, for a $1.1 million contract for "operational support services in support of migration efforts in the State," followed by two more contracts with Florida, totaling over $5 million, for site shuttles, armory systems, on-site emergency services and air operations at the Ochopee site.[51] IRG is an offshoot of Access Restoration Services US, Inc., a major campaign donor to DeSantis and totaling nearly $400,000 in donations to Republican coffers.[52]
As of August 29, 2025, the State of Florida had incurred $218 million of sunk costs for the construction of the facility.[55]
Detainees and reports of inhumane treatment
The first group of immigrant detainees arrived on July 3, 2025, beginning the facility's operations.[56] A review of official records revealed that people detained at the facility included Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.[57] Director Kerner testified that "detainees were there solely on immigration violations, none on state criminal charges."[58]
Some detainees have reported harsh conditions at the facility, citing limited access to water, insufficient food, and restrictions on the practice of their religion.[59] Detainees have described unsanitary conditions, including wastewater overflows and insect infestations, as well as inadequate access to medical care.[60] The area on which the facility is located is also subject to frequent bouts of extreme weather, including yearly hurricanes, heavy rainfall, and high heat.[61]
On July 12, Congressional and state lawmakers on-site reportedly heard cries of libertad, meaning "freedom" in Spanish, from detainees. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz described the detainees as "essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans, 32 detainees per cage". Lawmakers were not permitted to view the entire facility.[62]
According to a list of the population obtained by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald in mid-July, more than 95% of the detainees held at the site originated from Latin American countries. Approximately 20% of the population are Guatemalan citizens, ~20% Mexican citizens, and another ~10% Cuban citizens.[63]
On July 21, The Guardian described the facility as being at the center of "a succession of alleged abuses at jails operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) in the state since January, chronicled by the advocacy groups Human Rights Watch, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Sanctuary of the South from interviews with detainees".[64] A month later, the outlet described reports of inhumane treatment and brutality at the camp as being commonplace.[65]
On July 22, people detained on site began a hunger strike to protest what they consider to be inhumane and dangerous living conditions.[66] Some detainees reported maggots in the food and having to "dig the fecal matter out of the toilets with their bare hands" for lack of plumbing. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has denied the claims, but no independent inspections have been allowed.[67]
On August 29, three detainees said an uprising occurred at the facility in phone calls to Miami's Spanish language news channel Noticias 23. The incident allegedly occurred after several detainees shouted "freedom" after one received news a relative had died. The detainees described guards as indiscriminately beating detainees with batons and firing tear gas. The Florida Division of Emergency Management denied reports that the events had occurred.[65]
The Miami Herald,[68] as well as detainees' family and lawyers,[69] reported that the whereabouts of about two-thirds of over 1,800 detainees held at the facility in July could not be determined.[19] The New York Times reported that non-citizens from Cuba have been detained at the camp and deported at record numbers, including those seeking the right of asylum.[70]
Legal challenges
Native American tribal rights
Miccosukee Tribe Chairman Talbert Cypress testified in a recent lawsuit that this is not the first time the tribe has had to fight for its land and rights, affirming, "we will always stand up for our culture, our sovereignty, and for the Everglades"[71] There are 15 remaining traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages, recognised as Indigenous people of the Everglades region, in Big Cypress, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites, Cypress testified before Congress in 2024. "We live here. Our ancestors fought and died here. They are buried here," he said. "The Big Cypress is part of us, and we are a part of it."[72] The Seminole Tribe of Florida was likewise in opposition citing sacred lands.[73][74]
Environmental challenge and injunction
In June 2025, Betty Osceola, a Miccosukee tribal judge and member of the Everglades Advisory Committee, organized Indigenous-led prayer gatherings and public demonstrations to highlight environmental and cultural concerns. Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Business Council, noted that no environmental impact research had been done and that some Native villages were within 900 feet (270 m) of the camp's entrance.[75]
On June 27, 2025, a coalition led by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, represented by Earthjustice and attorney Paul Schwiep, filed suit in a federal court seeking an injunction until a full environmental review and public-comment period are completed.[76] Plaintiffs argue that the project threatens the habitat of endangered species, including that of the Florida panther and the Florida bonneted bat, and violates both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and tribal cultural-resource protections.[77]
On August 7, 2025, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams temporarily halted construction at the facility for two weeks, while she considered if the detention center violates environmental laws. Witnesses testified that 20 acres (8 hectares) of new asphalt had been laid, while temporary tents, trailers, and other heavy equipment were at the airport.[78] Located in tropical wetlands, its infrastructure and sewage may be sources of both water pollution and light pollution.
Judge Williams later granted a preliminary injunction on August 21 that prohibits the government from transferring any additional detainees to the site or performing any more construction work. She also ordered the Trump administration to remove temporary fencing, industrial lighting, generators, sewage and waste receptacles from the site within 60 days.[79] Uthmeier stated that they plan to keep the ICE facility running, despite the court order.[80]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in a 2–1 decision early September, first stayed the injunction pending appeal, stating that because the federal government had yet to reimburse Florida's costs, federal law (the NEPA, which requires an environmental impact study) did not apply.[81] The State's request for federal reimbursement had been submitted on August 7, 2025, which it did not inform the courts of.[82] The Appellate Court granted a second stay, citing the government shutdown.[83] On August 14, Friends of the Everglades filed suit to access Florida's undisclosed records of government financing for the camp under the Government in the Sunshine Act.[84]
Civil liberties challenges
On July 16, 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice filed a class action suit claiming the Trump administration violates the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights of people being detained, as well as the First Amendment rights of legal service organizations and law firms with clients held at the facility.[85] The civil rights groups' lawsuit alleges detainees are being held without charges and are not being given access to their attorneys.[86] As part of this lawsuit that also contests the federal cancellation of bond hearings, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz has requested all written agreements and contracts showing who has legal custody of the hundreds of detainees.[87]
Immigration attorneys described the facility's alternate system as a place "where the normal rules don't apply." Gov. Ron DeSantis falsely stated on July 25 that "Everybody here is already on a final removal order," a lie repeated by his director of emergency management, Kevin Guthrie.[88] Internal data show that the vast majority of detainees did not have final orders of removal from a judge before entering the facility (nearly 70% did not[89]), but they may have been deported as the facility's population fell to below 400 late August.[90]
In January 2026, a former detainee from the camp deported to Colombia and a second who had requested asylum was deported to Haiti both testified before a District judge that the camp agents did not respect their right to legal counsel guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[91]
Public response
Critics compare the facility to Nazi concentration camps, referring to it as "Alligator Auschwitz"[92] while others situate it within American concentration camps, including the internment of German Americans, the internment of Italian Americans, and the internment of Japanese Americans[93] at Manzanar and elsewhere. Members of the Republican Party, including DeSantis,[94] have defended the facility, arguing it will help the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to cope with the deportation policy of the federal government.[95] The camp has been labeled a "black hole" following the irregular disappearance of detainees.[96] Alex Padilla, Dick Durbin and other Democratic U.S. Senators mentioned the camp in their open letter about the increase in deaths during ICE detention.[97]
At a weekly vigil at the camp entrance on September 21, Amy Fischer, Director of Refugee and Migrant Rights at Amnesty International USA, called the facility "a human rights disaster."[98] Amnesty International launched a campaign to shut down the site on July 23 in response to unsanitary conditions, lack of medical care, and minimal access to lawyers, considering that it "sets a dangerous precedent for how states can partner with the federal government to expand the reach of its mass detention and deportation machine."[99] "Amnesty International considers that detention conditions at both facilities amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The use of prolonged solitary confinement at Krome and the use of the 'box' at "Alligator Alcatraz" amount to torture or other ill-treatment."[100]
Public opinion
Polling on July 4, 2025, by YouGov found that 48% of Americans polled opposed the detention center, with 33% supporting it and 18% unsure, while 53% of independents polled opposed the facility.[101] In their poll on July 20, 28% of women and 42% of men approved the camp.[102] A poll among Florida voters from July 25 to 27 found that 34% of Floridians held a favorable opinion and 59% saying they disapprove of using the state of Florida's taxpayer-funded Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to cover costs.[103]
See also
Notes
- The moniker alludes to both the local American alligator population and the former maximum-security Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.
References
---
AN 1 26
The Trump administration provoked horror this week with the suggestion that the United States could be turned into a paradise if over a quarter of the people in the country were deported.
On Wednesday, the official social media account for the Department of Homeland Security posted a piece of artwork depicting a pink late-1960s Cadillac Eldorado parked on a bright, idyllic beach. Over the clear blue sky are the words “America after 100 million deportations.The post was captioned by the agency: “The peace of a nation no longer besieged by the third world.”
Social media users later discovered that DHS had, ironically, stolen the image from the Japanese pop artist Hiroshi Nagai without giving credit.
It is hardly the first time the administration has used edgy and inflammatory social media posts to promote its agenda. But DHS has come under particular scrutiny for its style of communication, which often evokes white nationalist rhetoric and symbolism.
Posts by the agency have cheered “remigration,” a term that far-right parties in Europe have often used to describe the forced repatriation of nonwhite populations, including citizens. Other posts have referred to President Donald Trump’s “mass deportation” campaign as part of an effort to defend American “heritage” and “culture.”
The agency frequently evokes images of the American frontier and references “Manifest Destiny,” at times explicitly posting artwork glorifying the forced displacement of Native American populations.
An image by the agency, featuring a chiseled Uncle Sam calling on Americans to “REPORT ALL FOREIGN INVADERS,” was even directly sourced from an overt neo-Nazi account.
The agency has only continued to double down in the face of criticism this week. On Friday, it posted that “2026 will be the year of American Supremacy” over an image of then-Gen. George Washington crossing the Delaware River, which was emblazoned with the words “Return this Land,” a possible reference to a recently-founded “whites-only” town in rural Arkansas known as “Return to the Land.”
But Wednesday’s post calling for “100 million deportations” specifically was perhaps the most direct nod yet to those who believe the United States must be reconstituted as a white nation. As social media users were quick to point out, only about 47 million people living in America are foreign-born, according to the US Census Bureau.
Even if the administration kicked out every single immigrant—including legal residents and naturalized citizens—meeting such a goal would mean deporting 53 million people who were born in the US and are legally entitled to citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
If the use of the phrase “third world” did not make it obvious enough, the specific number—100 million—seems to betray the racial motivation behind the message.
Citing 2020 census data on the Wikipedia page for “Demographics of the United States,” one social media user pointed out that approximately 100 million people in the US identified as nonwhite.
The DHS post drew comparisons to one made earlier this year by the close Trump ally and unofficial White House operative Laura Loomer, who suggested that thanks to “Alligator Alcatraz,” the massive internment camp in Florida for those arrested by immigration agents, “the alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals,” which referenced the total number of Hispanic people in the United States.
While it’s almost certainly not possible for the administration to conduct a deportation campaign of such a staggering scale within Trump’s term of office, the administration’s latest post was frightening to many observers, even as they acknowledged that it was a “troll post” meant to rile people up.
It is still reflective of the Trump administration’s ideology with respect to immigration. Leaders of Trump’s deportation effort have acknowledged that they target people based on their appearance, and many nonwhite US citizens have been caught in the dragnet. Meanwhile, its refugee policy has welcomed only white South Africans, as Trump has enacted what he says is a “permanent pause on migration from all Third World Countries.”
During 2026, the administration has said it plans to target hundreds of US citizens each month for “denaturalization,” and Trump has called for it to be used against his most prominent critics, including the Somali-American Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and New York’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
“This is absolutely insane Nazi propaganda, posted by the US government,” said Ben Norton, editor of the Geopolitical Economy Report in response to DHS’s call for“100 million deportations.”
“It makes it clear that the Trump administration’s mass deportation drive is not actually about ‘illegal immigration.’ There are estimated to be 14 million undocumented immigrants in the US. But the fascist DHS wants to deport 100 million people,” Norton continued. “This is a call by the US regime for ethnic cleansing of racial minorities, to create a white-supremacist regime without anyone with ‘third world’ heritage.”
===
---
Trump, DeSantis Donors Are Contractors on ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Cruel and Lucrative
Republican Donors Cash In on ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Immigrant Camp
Trump and DeSantis donors reportedly helped build out the new immigrant detention camp in “Alligator Alley”
By Andrew Perez, Nikki McCann Ramirez
July 1, 2025
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, President Donald Trump, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem tour "Alligator Alcatraz," on July 1, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, President Donald Trump, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem tour "Alligator Alcatraz" on July 1, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump traveled to Florida on Tuesday to tour what Republicans have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” a 5,000-bed immigration detention center built in a remote, hot, and disgustingly humid corner of the Everglades. The facility — a collection of plastic tents outfitted with bunk beds in literal cages — was built almost overnight on top of an abandoned airstrip in an area known as Alligator Alley.
Republicans have emphasized the amount of deadly wildlife surrounding the camp and the danger alligators and pythons might pose to any detained migrants who may attempt to escape. The state GOP is even selling disturbing, swamp-themed merchandise touting the project, and Trump on Tuesday said, “I guess that’s the concept,” to a question about whether undocumented immigrants will be eaten by alligators if they try to escape.
But so far, little has been said about how exactly the facility came to be.
As it turns out, two contractors who worked to quickly build out Alligator Alcatraz, which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has called a “one-stop shop” for detention, adjudication, and deportation of migrants, have been significant donors to DeSantis and Trump.
Trump and DeSantis, who were bitter rivals in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, toured Alligator Alcatraz together on Tuesday alongside Kristi Noem, who leads Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “Ron worked beautifully with Kristi and all of the people at Homeland Security and got it done in how many days, Ron?” Trump marveled.
Earlier Tuesday, Bloomberg News identified several contractors working on Alligator Alcatraz — a group of disaster relief firms selected by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, which is part of DeSantis’ administration.
Among the contractors is CDR Companies, which Bloomberg reported “will run medical services and did some site preparation.” CDR’s president Carlos Duart and businesses affiliated with his firm have made significant donations to DeSantis and Trump, as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
CDR Enterprises donated $1 million in December 2023 to Fight Right Inc., a super PAC that supported DeSantis’ presidential campaign. Late last year, DeSantis announced he was appointing Duart to the board of trustees at Florida International University, and named his wife, Tina Vidal-Duart, to the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees.
Last June, CDR Maguire Inc. donated $400,000 to Right for America, a pro-Trump Super PAC. Duart donated $500,000 to the Trump 47 Committee in October. He also gave $148,000 in December to the Kennedy Victory Fund, helping RFK Jr. clear some of his campaign debt.
In January, CDR Enterprises contributed $500,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee.
Bloomberg reported that SLSCO Ltd., a construction company in Galveston, Texas, is also involved with Alligator Alcatraz, noting that the business had helped build parts of Trump’s border wall during his first term as president.
The firm is affiliated with brothers John, Todd, and William Sullivan. A company tied to the brothers, Sullivan Brothers Investments, donated $30,000 in 2022 to DeSantis’ state-level Super PAC, state records show.
CDR Companies and SLSCO did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Rolling Stone.
According to documents reviewed by Bloomberg, the contractors were selected from an existing pool of vendors already approved by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management — a move that allowed the state to bypass competitive bidding requirements. A heavily redacted planning document for the detention center obtained by Bloomberg indicated a desire to petition DHS to waive Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention standards to “streamline the setup of detention facilities.”
“We believe that the nature and vast scope of the illegal alien presence deserves a rethinking of detention processes and standards,” the document said.
It seems like DHS has embraced the idea. During Trump’s visit to the camp, Noem lauded the “unique” model Alligator Alcatraz could pioneer.
“Florida was unique in what they presented to us, and I would ask every other governor to do the exact same thing,” she said.
Trump is separately pushing to rebuild and reopen the original, infamous Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay. On Tuesday, the president posted on Truth Social that he wants Alcatraz to serve as “something representative” to scare migrants.
He explained, “I saw a picture of ALCATRAZ looking so foreboding, and I said, ‘We’re going to look into renovating and rebuilding the famous ALCATRAZ Prison sitting high on the Bay, surrounded by sharks. What a symbol it is, and will be!’”
In this article: Donald Trump, Florida, immigrants, Ron Desantis
---
AP
Republican donors and Florida’s hurricane know-how helped build ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ so quickly
Workers installed a sign reading “Alligator Alcatraz” at the entrance of a new migrant detention facility in Collier County in Florida on Thursday. AP video by Rebecca Blackwell
By KATE PAYNE, CURT ANDERSON and MIKE SCHNEIDER
Updated 1:13 PM PST, July 3, 2025
In a matter of days, an isolated training airport in the Everglades where endangered Florida panthers roam became a sprawling immigration detention center christened “Alligator Alcatraz,” modeled after the state’s frequent responses to hurricanes and built in part by companies whose owners have donated generously to Republicans.
It’s been less than two weeks since the state seized the property from Miami-Dade County. Massive tents have been erected and a steady stream of trucks carrying portable toilets, asphalt and construction materials have been driving through the site inside the Big Cypress National Preserve around the clock in what environmentalists fear will have a devastating impact on the wildlife in the protected wetlands.
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he tours “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“We are dealing with a storm,” said Jae Williams, spokesman for Republican Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who is credited as the architect behind the proposal. “And the storm’s name is immigration.”
The first detainees arrived Thursday at the facility, which will cost $450 million to operate and consists of tents and trailers surrounded by razor wire on swampland about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami.
Republicans named it after what was once one of the most notorious prisons in the U.S. and have billed it as a temporary lockup that is essential to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
This aerial photo shows that the state is plowing ahead with building a an immigration detention facility with heavy-duty tents, trailers and other temporary buildings at the Miami Dade County-owned airfield in the Big Cypress National Preserve, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami, This Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)
Opponents decry it as a political stunt and fear it could become permanent. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility’s name.
“The proposal was rolled out without any public input in one of the most ecologically sensitive regions of Florida, and arguably the United States,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, which is among environmental groups that have sued to stop the project.
Some GOP donors whose companies helped build and will assist in running the facility are being given seven-figure sums. Five Democratic state lawmakers who tried to visit the site Thursday issued a statement calling it “a pay-for-play scheme to enrich GOP donors under the pretense of border enforcement.” One of the lawmakers, state Sen. Shevrin Jones, posted on social media that they were denied access.
President Donald Trump talks with Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., during a roundtable at “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Florida built ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ using expertise from its response to hurricanes
Hot, humid summers; regular flooding; and wildlife that includes alligators and venomous snakes make the area where the detention center is located inhospitable to long-term living.
For the state emergency management staff leading the project, it wasn’t unlike responding to another hurricane, just with more chain-link fencing, and barbed wire stretching more than 28,000 feet, according to state officials.
Florida’s leaders pride themselves on the state’s disaster response capabilities, an expertise sharpened by tropical storms that sweep ashore year after year. Florida had a system and a command structure, as well as a fleet of vendors ready to help set up portable generators, floodlights, temporary kitchens and bathrooms, officials said.
“We understand how to act fast without bureaucracy in the face of any emergency,” said Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida’s emergency management division, sitting alongside DeSantis and Trump in one of the temporary shelters during an unveiling event at the facility. “We’re able to translate this knowledge to what we did here,” Guthrie added.
Human rights advocates say this is not a storm, but people — people who could be left indefinitely in inhumane conditions.
Uthmeier said the location had the advantages of an existing site and a 10,500-foot (3,200 meters) runway, with the Everglades serving as a natural security perimeter. For DeSantis, the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent from escape, much like the California island fortress Republicans named it after.
It’s also another sign of how the Trump administration and its allies are relying on scare tactics to persuade people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily.
Environmental advocates and protesters at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on Tamiami Trail E, Ochopee, Fla., on Saturday, June 28, 2025, object to the “Alligator Alcatraz” being built at the facility. (Mike Stocker /South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
GOP donors will get paid for ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ work
Vendors chosen for the project include Lemoine CDR Logistics and CDR Health Care, companies led by Carlos Duart, a major Republican donor who along with his businesses have given millions of dollars to political committees for DeSantis, Trump and other GOP candidates, according to federal records. CDR Companies has been a go-to vendor for the state for years, and it provides engineering, emergency management and health care services across the country.
Duart confirmed his companies’ involvement to The Associated Press but declined to specify the services they’re providing, citing a nondisclosure agreement. Asked if his businesses were picked because of his political support, he said, “we get chosen because we do exceptional work.”
A database of state contracts also showed that Granny’s Alliance Holdings Inc. signed a $3.3 million contract to provide meals at the facility. IRG Global Emergency Management had inked a $1.1 million deal to provide “flight and operational support” services. Some of the company’s vehicles were seen at the facility, according to images shared with the AP.
In a sign of its importance to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, the president toured the facility Tuesday. The White House posted on its social media account a graphic of the president standing besides alligators sporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement ball caps under text of “Alligator Alcatraz: Make America Safe Again.”
An alligator appears near the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
The Everglades ecosystem is fragile
In recent decades, $3.9 billion in federal and state funds have been allocated to restore grasslands in the Everglades. The ecosystem was degraded and transformed when a highway connecting Tampa and Miami was built in 1928.
In response to the environmental groups’ lawsuit over the detention center, the federal government said in court papers that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security hadn’t authorized or funded the facility, which the state built and will operate.
However, Florida plans to seek payment from the federal government.
DeSantis has described it as temporary, with no plans for sewers, and claims there will be “zero impact” on the Everglades. His administration reiterated that stance in court papers responding to the lawsuit.
But opponents still fear it will become permanent.
“If it becomes more permanent, that is a bigger concern since that permanently evicts these species from the site so they can never come back,” said Elise Bennett, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, which also joined the lawsuit trying to stop the construction. “Our concerns are great now and will only become greater as this project proceeds.”
Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
[
Payne writes about state government and education and is based in Tallahassee, FL. She is a Report for America corps member.
Schneider covers census, demographics and Florida for The Associated Press. Author of 2023 book, “Mickey and the Teamsters.”
---
exclusive: group behind notorious Florida immigration detention center created bid for reconstruction deal
Aram Roston and Cate Brown in Washington
Sun 14 Dec 2025
Trump administration insiders and well-connected Republican businesses have been jostling to dominate pending humanitarian aid and reconstruction logistics in the shattered Gaza Strip, according to sources and documents reviewed by the Guardian.
With three-quarters of Gaza’s structures damaged or destroyed by two years of Israeli strikes, the rebuilding effort to come – estimated at $70bn by the United Nations – could be a rich prize for companies that specialize in construction, demolition, transportation and logistics.
But there’s no way to issue long-term contracts for reconstruction or humanitarian aid yet: a Board of Peace, chaired by Donald Trump, was endorsed by the United Nations to administer the territory but is not yet in operation. And the mandate of the new Civil-Military Coordination Center is limited.
Parallel to these official efforts, the White House has established its own Gaza taskforce led by Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and Aryeh Lightstone.
The Guardian has learned that two former Doge officials – once assigned to Elon Musk’s effort to slash government and fire federal workers in bulk – are leading the group’s conversations about humanitarian assistance and the postwar reconstruction of Gaza. They have circulated slide decks with detailed plans for logistics operations, including prices, financial projections and the locations of potential warehouses.
US companies are gathering for the spoils. One contender, the Guardian has learned, is Gothams LLC, a politically connected contractor that won a $33m contract to help run the notorious south Florida detention center nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz”, where immigrants are housed in tents and trailers.
Documents and three people familiar with the plans say that the contractor had an “inside track” to secure what might be the most lucrative contract it’s ever had.But in an interview on Friday, after questions from the Guardian, the company’s founder, Matt Michelsen, said he had reconsidered his company’s participation and was pulling out, citing security concerns.
Eddie Vasquez, a spokesperson for the White House Gaza taskforce, did not provide answers to detailed questions about the White House-led process. He said in an email that this story “illustrates a fundamental ignorance of how the Gaza team operates and the current state of play. We are at the early stages of planning and there are many ideas and proposals currently being discussed with no final decisions having been made.”
Meanwhile, sources say contractors have been flying to the region in order to meet with influential US officials and potential business partners before the holidays.
“Everybody and their brother is trying to get a piece of this,” one long-time contractor familiar with the process . “People are treating this like another Iraq or Afghanistan. And they’re trying to get, you know, rich off of it.”
$1.7bn for a ‘master contractor’
In November, the UN endorsed Trump’s plan for Gaza.
While Trump and Kushner both have envisioned wealthy resort concepts, most of the international community wishes to see Gaza rebuilt as a livable home for its 2.1 million Palestinian residents. Meanwhile, Israel continues to control half of the Gaza Strip, and has said it will forbid reconstruction on the half overseen by Hamas until the group disarms.
Two former Doge officials were dispatched to the region as planning for postwar Gaza ramped up this fall. One was Josh Gruenbaum, an appointee to the General Services Administration now serving as a senior adviser to the Gaza taskforce. The other was Adam Hoffman, a 25-year-old Princeton graduate, who joined Elon Musk’s Doge efforts last March. Two people who have dealt directly with the junior adviser say that Hoffman has become a driving force in the newest plans.
“The impression is that whatever those guys say is going to happen,” said a person familiar with the process. “That is the perception anyway.”
Hoffman has conservative political activist credentials going back to his teen years. At 14, he worked as a volunteer for the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, according to a 2020 profile by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. And even before finishing college, he briefly worked in Trump’s first administration at the Council of Economic Advisors. At Princeton, he alleged there was antisemitism on campus after a prominent critic of the Israeli government was invited to speak at a solidarity event with Gaza.
Three sources familiar with the process say Hoffman has been soliciting ideas for a new logistics scheme in Gaza. The Guardian has reviewed a planning document, which the sources say was circulated by Hoffman, that details a new “Gaza Supply System Logistics Architecture”.
Labeled “Sensitive but Unclassified”, Hoffman’s planning document calls for a “Master Contractor” to supply 600 humanitarian and commercial truckloads to Gaza per day. It suggests charging a $2,000 fee for every humanitarian load and a $12,000 fee to commercial trucks.
By operating as a licensing entity, the contractor could “earn a fair return” off humanitarian and commercial clients entering Gaza, the document says. If a “Master Contractor” performs apace, the Guardian estimates that they could gross $1.7bn a year on trucking fees alone.
Trucking will be crucially important to any reconstruction efforts in Gaza. Before the war, about 500 trucks entered the enclave each day, providing critical imports to a population that’s lived under Israel’s military blockade for decades.
Since 7 October 2023, Israel has intermittently cut off all entry and exit to Gaza, limiting access to basic goods, including food, fuel and building supplies. While the ceasefire deal reached in October established that 600 trucks of aid would enter the territory daily, Israel has limited entry to an average of only 140 trucks a day.
Historically, the United Nations has participated in the delivery of humanitarian aid across Gaza – once supplying more than 80% of its residents with basic goods, education and healthcare.
It’s unclear what role the United Nations or other longtime humanitarian actors will play moving forward. Israeli authorities control access permits for all groups that work in Gaza, including the for-profit contractors lining up to consider future work with the Board of Peace.
Amed Khan, an American philanthropist who runs the Amed Khan Foundation and delivers medicine to Gaza, said the reconstruction planning is flawed and buffoonish. “None of these people are humanitarians or have backgrounds in humanitarian assistance. It’s a bunch of crap,” he said. “There’s no surge of medicine, no surge of medical equipment.”
The Guardian reviewed a proposal by Gothams, signed by the firm’s chief financial officer and addressed to the Board of Peace. “In response to requests to provide a proposal to the future Board of Peace,” Gothams wrote, it was offering a “fully integrated humanitarian logistics system to support large scale aid operations into Gaza”.
Three sources say Gothams has been the apparent frontrunner to handle logistics, and has been lining up suppliers and subcontractors.
Michelsen, the firm’s founder, is a politically connected Republican who’s donated extensively to Greg Abbott and Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
After a wide-ranging career that brought him in contact with Lady Gaga, 50 Cent and several Silicon Valley tycoons, including executives at Meta and Palantir, Michelsen turned to the disaster-response business, founding Gothams in 2019.
The company has had a remarkable rise in recent years thanks to lush government contracts. It was awarded hundreds of millions in government funding for running Covid-19 programs during the pandemic, and supplying logistics in the booming industry of state-run detention operations.
In 2022, the Texas Observer reported that Michelsen donated a quarter-million dollars to Abbott’s campaign efforts, the same year Texas awarded Gothams a $43m contract.
Michelsen said he donated to Abbott because he likes him: “I support Abbott.”
He told the Guardian on Friday that he was limited in how much he could say about Gaza plans, and was unwilling to discuss Hoffman, Gruenbaum or the process. “I’ve agreed not to share anything about the government,” he said.
Michelsen did say that the plans had changed drastically over the past two weeks, growing in scale. “The original premise has changed,” he said. “This thing has changed massively.”
In his interview, Michelsen said questions from the Guardian had prompted him to pull out of the Gaza contracting effort. “Your questions have really hit me,” he said. He said he’d just made the decision, and was notifying the Guardian before even telling Gothams’ staff. He was concerned about bad publicity, he said, and about potential security risks, if he goes forward.
“Gothams will not be participating,” he said. “I wish them well.”
Michelsen did promise, if he changes his mind again, to let the Guardian know.
---
duck 326 corrupt
- [Orlando Sentinel
Maxwell: $92 million for porta-potties? Big spending at 'Alligator Alcatraz'
16 days agoNew reports show Florida gave $92 million to a single porta-potty company involved with 'Alligator Alcatraz.' And the state has yet to produce audits required by law on hundreds of
](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/02/17/92-million-porta-potties-alligator-alcatraz-missing-audits/)
- [
WFMZ-TV
Lawyers say access to 'Alligator Alcatraz' is still hard to get as a judge weighs the case
22 days agoFILE - Trucks come and go from the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Collier County, Fla. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for detainees at a state-run immigration detention facility in ...](https://www.wfmz.com/news/ap/ap-national/lawyers-say-access-to-alligator-alcatraz-is-still-hard-to-get-as-a-judge-weighs/article_2645c9ca-8dc0-5fa7-94c9-1ecc34f21fc1.html)
Miami Herald
https://www.miamiherald.com › news › politics-government › state-politics › article309886225.html
Who is building "Alligator Alcatraz"? We have a list | Miami Herald
Jul 2, 2025Florida Politics Contractors building Alligator Alcatraz have donated money to Florida GOP, DeSantis By Alexandra Glorioso , Romy Ellenbogen and Lawrence Mower Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
AP News
'Alligator Alcatraz' built with help from Republican donors | AP News
Florida built 'Alligator Alcatraz' using expertise from its response to hurricanes Hot, humid summers; regular flooding; and wildlife that includes alligators and venomous snakes make the area where the detention center is located inhospitable to long-term living.
The Independent
Major DeSantis contributor was awarded Alligator Alcatraz contract
Jul 6, 2025The involvement of a firm with ties to a major donor in state Republican circles is just one of the potential issues surrounding the funding for "Alligator Alcatraz".
The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com › us-news › 2025 › dec › 14 › gaza-rebuild-us-contractors
'They're trying to get rich off it': US contractors vie to rebuild Gaza ...
Dec 14, 2025'They're trying to get rich off it': US contractors vie to rebuild Gaza, with 'Alligator Alcatraz' team in the lead Exclusive: group behind notorious Florida immigration detention center ...
Yahoo
https://www.yahoo.com › news › republican-donors-cash-alligator-alcatraz-192720846.html
Republican Donors Cash In on 'Alligator Alcatraz' Immigrant Camp
Jul 1, 2025President Donald Trump traveled to Florida on Tuesday to tour what Republicans have dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," a 5,000-bed immigration detention center built in a remote, hot, and ...
MSN
Company's Alligator Alcatraz contracts followed donation to the Florida GOP
A Texas-based company gave $10,000 to Florida's Republican Party days before getting state contracts to help with transportation at a state-run detention facility for migrants in the Everglades.
Insurance Journal
https://www.insurancejournal.com › news › southeast › 2025 › 07 › 03 › 830204.htm
Florida Taps Contractors With No Detention Experience for 'Alligator ...
Jul 3, 2025Alligator Alcatraz has been cheered by conservative pundits, and the Florida GOP is selling Alligator Alcatraz t-shirts, hats and beer koozies. It has also drawn protests from environmentalists ...
PressReader.com
https://www.pressreader.com › usa › miami-herald-sunday › 20250706 › 281938843921411
Alligator Alcatraz contractors have donated to Florida GOP, DeSantis
Jul 6, 2025Among at least 10 state contractors involved in the creation of Alligator Alcatraz — which the state has had built in the middle of the Everglades to hold immigrant detainees — three have given money to Gov. Ron DeSantis or the Republican Party of Florida for statewide campaigns.
WUSF Public Media
Florida signs $245 million in contracts for 'Alligator Alcatraz.' Here ...
Jul 22, 2025Gov. Ron DeSantis ' administration has already signed contracts to pay at least $245 million to set up and run the new immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," according to a public database.
Talking Points Memo
https://talkingpointsmemo.com › muckraker › contracts-desantis-alligator-alcatraz
Contracts Show Millions of Dollars and Diverted Disaster ... - TPM
Jul 16, 2025In its previous reporting on the "Alligator Alcatraz" contractors, the Miami Herald identified three that "have given money to Gov. Ron DeSantis or the Republican Party of Florida for ...
---
MIAMI TIMES?
Feds block millions for ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ ‘Deportation Depot’ over pending environmental review
- Liv Caputo, Florida Phoenix
- Mar 3, 2026
The federal government is blocking a $608 million grant for Florida's detention centers until a federal environmental review is completed. The "Alligator Alcatraz" facility in the Everglades is pictured.
(Photo via Florida Division of Emergency Management X account)
The federal government is withholding a $608 million grant to help pay for Florida’s migrant lockups because a required environmental review still hasn’t been completed, newly released records show.
The so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Deportation Depot” centers were projected to cost $1.7 billion over two years, with Floridians expected to pay at least $1.1 billion, according to nearly 3,000 pages of emails and financial sheets reviewed by the Phoenix.
And costs could climb even higher if the federal environmental review continues to delay reimbursement.
On four separate occasions last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency told state officials that it wouldn’t release the full $608.4 million grant award until an Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP) review was finalized. FEMA even formally denied a state funding request in December, citing the unfinished review.
State officials say the review, which is being conducted by the feds, is “in progress.” FEMA couldn’t be reached for comment because of the partial federal government shutdown.
“Completing the EHP study is part of the reimbursement process and we continue to work with our federal partners to be compliant and complete all requirements to expedite the process,” Stephanie Hartman, communications director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM), told the Phoenix. She didn’t know when that would happen.
These new revelations are key to a pending lawsuit brought by environmental groups in which the state claimed that federal environmental restrictions don’t apply to the detention centers because they don’t use federal dollars or oversight.
DEM was forced to turn over these records to the plaintiffs as part of this suit. Groups like the Friends of the Everglades had demanded to know the exact dates that federal authorities and state officials agreed on the multi-million dollar grant.
“The records confirm what Friends of the Everglades has maintained from the outset: This is a federal immigration detention facility, conceived and constructed on the promise of federal funding,” Paul Schwiep, attorney for that organization, said in an email to the Phoenix. “Attempting to delay federal reimbursement to sidestep compliance with federal environmental law is gamesmanship — and will not work.”
The records help explain why Florida has yet to see a dime of federal money despite assurances it had been approved for the grant in September.
The records also highlight a contradiction in the state’s messaging:
- Publicly, Florida officials have dismissed the need to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because they say “Alligator Alcatraz” has received no federal funding and is entirely state-run. Executive Director Kevin Guthrie claimed the Justice Department was the agency tying up the funds.
- Privately, the correspondence shows, the agency knows why it hasn’t been paid: The federal government believes NEPA, through the environmental review, may apply to the state.
The review is a mandatory process that ensures federally funded projects comply with environmental laws like NEPA, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
$390 million in four months …
The revelations come as Florida lawmakers debate how to replenish the state’s emergency response fund, which expired Feb. 17 after legislators failed to agree on how much to spend on immigration enforcement.
Now that the fund is gone, Gov. Ron DeSantis would need legislative approval to quickly access emergency dollars for future disasters, such as hurricanes.
The fund, created in 2022 for immediate disaster relief, was opened to anti-immigration enforcement when DeSantis declared a state of emergency for immigration in January 2023. The state has drawn $573 million from the trust since then specifically for immigration actions.
Of that amount, the state spent $405 million in the past six months, including for private jet flights, restaurant meals, and legal fees.
The newly released records reveal even more spending, showing that although earlier media reports had calculated Alligator Alcatraz’s one-year price tag at between $250 million and $450 million, the center actually cost $390.2 million during its first four months of operation.
Projections by DEM revealed that the agency anticipated spending as much as $1.7 billion between June 2025 and July 2027 on the detention centers, although a spokesperson has claimed revised projections are much lower.
‘Designated recipient of FEMA grant funding’
Alligator Alcatraz, located in the Everglades, has drawn a number of lawsuits, including allegations of human rights violations and flouting of state-level laws.
At the same time, critics have attacked the center as an environmental nightmare since its June 19 creation.
The state drew a lawsuit from the Friends of the Everglades, the Miccosukee Tribe, EarthJustice, and Center for Biological Diversity days after construction began for allegedly violating NEPA. This federal law requires agencies to review environmental consequences before a project can be approved.
The DeSantis administration said it wasn’t using federal dollars so it didn’t have to comply. Although it won the suit, the state announced days later — on Sep. 15 — that it had applied for federal funding.
But a very different scene was playing out behind closed doors:
Florida had not applied for funding in September after all.
Instead, the state helped FEMA draft the grant language itself as early as June and initially applied for the program on Aug. 7, as the Tributary first reported. Records show the feds curated the program specifically for DEM.
“[DEM] is the designated recipient of FEMA grant funding, including my parallel role as the State Administrative Agent for all DHS domestic security funding,” Guthrie wrote on June 24, responding to a confused Miami ICE agent wondering which Florida agency the grant should be made out to.
“I am the designated state coordinating officer, governor’s authorized representative, and as indicated the state administrative agent,” he said.
The $608.4 million grant — called the Detention Support Grant Program — Florida was approved for on Sep. 30 was co-written by DEM and FEMA agents dating to at least June 23. Repeatedly, officials from both agencies traded emails back-and-forth with different draft grant versions, asking for “edits” and “input.”
But that wasn’t enough to get around environmental law.
In September, FEMA agents expressed concern about environmental issues getting in the way of grant disbursement.
“We still haven’t received the greenlight from our Department’s general counsel given the environmental nexus, but I expect that will be soon,” Stacey Street, FEMA’s deputy assistant administrator for grant programs, wrote on Sep. 27. A day later, she said that although she sensed “This is close to 100%…we are awaiting final steer from our DHS general counsel on the environmental litigation matter.”
Six months later, the review remains unfinished.
On Dec. 10, FEMA denied DEM’s $30 million payment request because the environmental review still wasn’t complete. Days earlier, state officials argued the review was unnecessary because Alligator Alcatraz is “not a permanent structure.”
The $608 million reimbursement, if received, would not cover any construction or modification costs. And until an environmental review comes through, the money won’t come at all.
---
DUCK 3 26
WPLG Local 10
Alligator Alcatraz protesters demand closure after court-ordered ...
2 days agoAlligator Alcatraz protesters demand closure after court-ordered records release Florida Sen. Ed Hooper on immigration detention centers: 'We hope the reimbursement is as was promised'
BBC
https://www.bbc.com › news › articles › cwy3zel0r3go
Life inside notorious 'Alligator Alcatraz' in its final days - BBC
Aug 30, 2025A large Alligator Alcatraz sign was put up outside the camp When the facility first opened, the Florida Republican Party commissioned Alligator Alcatraz merchandise: t-shirts, caps and beer coolers.
WGCU Public Media
New records show Florida officials burned more than $1.2 million per ...
1 day agoRepublican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration planned to spend more than a billion dollars on the makeshift immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz", according to records released under a judge's order and obtained by The Florida Trib.
AP News
Florida wildfire burns near 'Alligator Alcatraz' in the Everglades | AP ...
Feb 25, 2026Crews in Florida battle a 25,000-acre wildfire near 'Alligator Alcatraz' Work progresses on a new migrant detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, on July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
USA Today
A look inside Alligator Alcatraz - and how it could be copied
Aug 22, 2025A federal judge has ordered the closure and dismantlement of the South Florida Detention Facility known as Alligator Alcatraz, the federal migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades that ...
CNN
https://www.cnn.com › 2025 › 07 › 01 › us › what-is-alligator-alcatraz-florida
What we know about 'Alligator Alcatraz,' Florida's new ... - CNN
Jul 1, 2025"Alligator Alcatraz" is expected to cost $450 million to operate for a single year, according to one DHS official who told CNN Florida will front the costs of the facility and then "submit ...
Britannica
https://www.britannica.com › topic › Dade-Collier-Training-and-Transition-Airport
Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport | Alligator Alcatraz ...
Feb 12, 2026Alligator Alcatraz is a large-scale immigration detention center located in Big Cypress National Preserve, in the Florida Everglades, transformed from the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in 2025.
New York Times
The Chaotic Early Days Inside Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' Detention ...
Jul 16, 2025Several immigrant detainees described high tension and anxiety at the remote, hastily constructed facility over a lack of information, recreation and access to medication.
---