DeSantis's $1.2 Million Daily Cost for 'Alligator Alcatraz' Jail Exposed
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis allocated a staggering $1.2 million of taxpayer money per day to open and operate the controversial immigration detention facility nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz', according to court records obtained by the independent investigative news outlet, the Florida Tributary. This massive expenditure comes amid revelations that the state may be left responsible for at least $608 million in costs, despite previous assurances of federal reimbursement from the Trump administration.
Federal Funding Reversal Leaves Florida on the Hook
In a significant shift, the Trump administration's position has changed, potentially forcing Florida to cover the hefty bills for the Everglades-based jail and other immigration facilities. DeSantis had boasted in September that the state would be reimbursed with federal funds, but this now appears uncertain. James Uthmeier, DeSantis's former chief of staff and Florida's unelected attorney general, admitted last week that a federal reimbursement grant, which the governor insisted was secured, might not be delivered after all.
In a court filing related to a lawsuit by Friends of the Everglades and other groups, Uthmeier and fellow defendants conceded, "[Florida] took the risk (and still does) that federal funding will not materialize. Promised funds are still only 'likely'." This admission confirms that the DeSantis administration relied on verbal assurances from the federal government, a stance the Justice Department seemed to reverse in its own filing last month.
Legal Battles and Environmental Concerns
The Justice Department indicated that after reviewing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant program rules, it could disallow some or all of the reimbursement request from the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM), which operates 'Alligator Alcatraz'. The filing stated, "Crucially, the documents show that FEMA may not reimburse FDEM for construction costs, and may ultimately disallow the requested costs altogether." This funding dispute is tied to an ongoing lawsuit aiming to permanently close the jail, with plaintiffs arguing that DeSantis's promise of federal funding subjected the facility to strict environmental laws.
Miami District Court Judge Kathleen Williams ordered the jail shuttered in August, but a three-member appeals panel blocked the ruling in October. The panel, which included a judge whose attorney husband has business ties to the DeSantis administration, agreed with defendants like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security that federal regulations did not apply since the jail was built with state funds only.
Allegations of Secrecy and Corruption
The Tributary's findings shed light on the opaque finances of the remote jail, including allegations that tens of millions in no-bid contracts were secretly awarded to DeSantis's political allies. The Associated Press reported in July that DeSantis officials were vague about construction plans to local authorities but had already deployed preferred contractors after using an executive order and emergency declaration to seize the site—a remote, barely used airport on ancestral Indigenous American tribe land owned by Miami-Dade County.
Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, criticized the facility, stating, "This detention facility was planned in secret, built in secret and operated in secret, concealing devastating impacts to Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades. We won’t stop fighting until it’s safe and the government complies with all environmental laws." Noelle Damico, director of social justice at the Workers Circle, added, "The lawlessness, woeful unaccountability, and apparent corruption that are part and parcel of these cruel abductions, detentions, and deportations has corroded trust in our government."
The governor's office has not yet responded to requests for comment on these developments.
