Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz Set To Close As Costs Spiral: Report

Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz detention center is expected to close in the coming weeks as the facility has been dogged by high costs and court challenges.

CBS News reported that the facility, run by contractors hired by the state of Florida, is winding down operations. The network reported that the last of 1,400 immigration detainees is expected to be gone in a few weeks.

“As Governor DeSantis stated last week, the South Florida detention facility was always intended to serve as a temporary facility to support ongoing illegal immigration enforcement and detention operations,” Florida Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Stephanie Hartman said. “If federal operational needs evolve and the Department of Homeland Security implements alternative plans for the South Florida detention facility, the state will pivot accordingly.”

Although the cost to build the facility was paid by Florida, the plan was to have the federal government reimburse the state for the cost of operating it. The facility opened in July 2025, and by the end of the year its operational cost had reached $608 million.

According to the New York Times, Florida has yet to receive the federal reimbursement. Since the request, costs have continued to mount by another $300 million.

The newspaper reported that vendors have had to front costs, with one telling the Times that Florida was more than 200 days late in paying some invoices.

A court action sought to close the Everglades-based facility has been complicating matters further. The suit said it had not had a proper environmental impact review based on federal guidelines, Fox News reported.

Although the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April that the facility could stay open, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity said they planned to continue the legal battle.

“We won’t let up until Alligator Alcatraz is shut down and its harm to the Everglades is completely remediated,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “This political stunt was a failure by every measure — our government failed the Everglades and failed taxpayers, and history will remember.”

The organization noted that the planned closure aligns with the timeframe when the group could resume its lawsuit.

“While it is welcome news that people will no longer be inhumanely confined at this facility, the damage caused by this reckless and ill-conceived endeavor cannot simply be abandoned and forgotten,” said Paul J. Schwiep of Coffey Burlington and counsel for Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity. “This project was recklessly advanced without any meaningful regard for the remote, environmentally sensitive and ecologically fragile landscape in which it was imposed. The fencing, lighting, paving and other infrastructure — all constructed without environmental permits, review, or analysis — must be removed, and any lingering harm remediated. We will continue pressing until full remediation is completed and this wild and irreplaceable area is restored and left undisturbed.”