One year after it opened, Alligator Alcatraz, the detention center used by Florida and the federal government to house undocumented immigrants, is shutting down.
“Alligator Alcatraz fulfilled the role that it was designed to serve,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, the location of the tented immigration detention center.
“Today it now has zero detainees. It has helped remove many, many dangerous people from the street and get them out, not only the state of Florida, but the United States of America,” he said.
Behind a lectern with a sign that read “Florida Leads on Immigration Enforcement,” DeSantis was joined by White House Border Czar Tom Homan and Florida State Board of Immigration Enforcement Director Anthony Coker.
DeSantis said Alligator Alcatraz helped the federal government deport 21,000 people, and the state’s other immigration detention center, Deportation Depot in Baker County, will remain open.
“We’re going to continue the partnership, we understand the mission continues,” he said.
The facility opened July 1, 2025, within days of the start of construction, and was derided by Democrats and critics. It has been the subject of numerous lawsuits on environmental, due process and civil rights grounds that sought to close it down.
Court records show Alligator Alcatraz has cost the state approximately $1 million per day to run and was estimated to cost more than $1 billion for two years of operations.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management has overseen the two immigration detention centers, and has used money within the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to pay for their operations.
Since 2022, lawmakers have deposited $4.77 billion into the fund to respond to natural disasters, like Hurricanes Helene and Idalia. As of this week, the state has approximately $25 million left in the fund.
DeSantis defended the price tag for illegal immigration enforcement and said the state will be reimbursed by the federal government. The delay in the reimbursements is due to “bureaucracy,” he said, and Florida got a payment just last week from FEMA for immigration-related costs.
“We’ve got to do whatever it takes to keep people safe, and there’s no question that people are safer as a result of that,” DeSantis said. “We prevented preventable crimes.”
Homan praised DeSantis’ cooperation with the federal government.
“Governor DeSantis was one of the first governors to step up,” Homan said.
All the detainees who were housed at Alligator Alcatraz have been moved to other detention facilities, DeSantis said.
As for the future of the airstrip, DeSantis said it will continue to be used for training flights. But Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a memo to county commissioners she would pursue “permanent protection” for the land used for Alligator Alcatraz.
“Once this facility is decommissioned, we have an opportunity to permanently protect these lands for Everglades restoration and ensure they remain protected for generations to come. That is the legacy we should leave,” Levine Cava said.
–Ana Goñi-Lessan, News Service of Florida
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