OCHOPEE, Fla. — Florida is in talks with the Trump administration to shut down the Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention facility, according to a report from The New York Times.
The controversial facility, located in the heart of the Florida Everglades, was opened last summer and has reportedly cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that if federal officials determine the facility is no longer needed, the state would adjust its approach.
“So if they decide that they have the resources, that this is not needed, well, yeah, I mean, we don’t need to do it to do it,” DeSantis said. “That’s totally fine, and we’ll work, and we’ll change the approach to make sure we’re getting the people in DHS’s hands. And then let them put them in the facilities that they have. So that may be the case.”
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security have reportedly concluded that it is too expensive to keep operating the detention center.
A federal official told the publication that DHS has come to consider the center as ineffective.
The DeSantis administration has been spending more than $1 million a day to run Alligator Alcatraz and some private vendors hired by the state to operate it have been struggling to keep up with costs.
As of last month, the center held nearly 1,400 detainees ― all of them men, according to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
DeSantis has said from the start that the federal government would pay for the facility, but Florida has yet to receive the $608 million federal reimbursement to run the center over the past year.
A Local 10 analysis of purchasing orders suggested the site’s location deep in the Everglades contributed to escalating expenses.
Friends for Public Lands founder Jessica Namath, who has been documenting activity at the site, told Local 10 on Thursday that she does not understand how officials justify the spending.
“I don’t see how a fiscally responsible person would condone the spending at this facility,” Namath said.
State Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami-Dade, has also criticized the project, saying it should have never been built.
“It should have been shut down in the first place,” Jones said.
White House border adviser Tom Homan told Local 10 News last year that the federal government needs more permanent detention capacity.
“I do think ICE needs more brick-and-mortar facilities,” Homan said at the time.
Namath, who is also a witness in an ongoing environmental lawsuit challenging the facility, said she continues to observe what she described as daily environmental harm in the Everglades.
“There are daily, irreparable impacts that are happening to the ecosystem and environment here,” she said. “We just want it shut down.”
ACLU of Florida Immigrants’ Rights staff attorney Sam Lester said even if the facility closes, detainees may not necessarily be released.
“It’s time that this facility gets shut down but the fight doesn’t end there. It’s important to stress that even if the facility is shut down, the people who are detained there may continue to be detained in ice custody, they may simply be transferred to other facilities,” he said. “It does not mean that they will necessarily be released and be freed.”
Lester also criticized the planning and construction of the site.
“It’s time that this facility gets shut down. However it’s shut down, it needs to be shut down. This was a boondoggle from the very beginning,” Lester added. “They put absolutely no thought into how to provide basic human necessities for people who are detained there. And this is a warning. This is a cautionary tale.”
A DHS spokesperson told Local 10 in a statement Thursday,
“Any reports that DHS is pressuring the state to cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz are false. Florida continues to be a valuable partner in advancing President Trump’s immigration agenda, and DHS appreciates their support,” the statement read. “DHS continuously evaluates detention needs and requirements to ensure they meet the latest operational requirements.”
“Regarding reimbursement, DHS reviews reimbursement requests for grant funding to ensure costs are allowable and validated expenses that are eligible for reimbursement prior to releasing funding,” the statement continued.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
