It’s been a good run for Florida’s immigrant detention facility in the Everglades, which state leaders opened last year on spec as part of a round-up of undocumented aliens starting when President Donald Trump returned to office.
But when it comes to “Alligator Alcatraz,” Sen. Ashley Moody is saying that the lock-up has done its job and that its mission has been fulfilled, after it was opened to handle detainees the federal government couldn’t handle.
“Since then, there have been other detention alternatives opened, and I think you’re hearing from Florida officials that they feel it’s served its purpose, and we can now move on to more permanent structures,” the Plant City Republican and former state Attorney General said Saturday on “Fox News Live.”
Moody’s comments jibe with those of the person who appointed her to the Senate.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week that it would be “great for us to break that facility down.”
The New York Times reports that operations cost $1 million a day. While the Department of Homeland Security reportedly cut the state a check for $668 million, it has yet to be delivered.
Attorney General James Uthmeier said this year he expects the state to “largely be reimbursed,” but that’s a term of art.
The Department of Justice says any reimbursement would cover “operational costs,” not the estimated $245 million spent on “construction or facility modification,” suggesting that the infrastructural costs will come at the expense of traditional priorities of the state, such as health care, corrections, infrastructure and funding nonprofits.
For his part, DeSantis is untroubled, saying that FEMA reimbursements take a long time and that he has been buttonholing Border Czar Tom Homan to pay the state back.
Regarding the facility’s future, DHS hasn’t said what its plans are.
“Any reports that DHS is pressuring the state to cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz are false,” a spokesperson said. “Florida continues to be a valuable partner in advancing President Trump’s immigration agenda, and DHS appreciates their support. DHS continuously evaluates detention needs and requirements to ensure they meet the latest operational requirements.”
–A.G. Gancarski, Florida Politics
justbob says
A cruel and costly boondoggle.
Dennis C Rathsam says
We have fed these invaders long enough, shut it down & let the deportations start tomorrow.
Skibum says
Unless your ancestry is Native American, I suggest someone call the corrupt DOJ and have their masked ICE agents scoop you up, no matter of your citizenship. YOU have immigrant blood in YOUR past, and therefore America cannot be assured of YOUR loyalties either.
Once YOU are detained and under investigation, like numerous other American citizens have experienced, then YOU can try your luck as one single individual against the mighty federal government agencies… only with this corrupt, criminal administration it matters not what our own laws say, what the intent of the law is, or what the U.S. Constitution says. The ONLY thing that matters to those now in charge is what they think of you, and so I want to know, are you betting against a 50-50 chance that anyone in the convicted felon sex abuser con man’s orbit would speak up for YOU???
Don’t bet on it!
“First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me”
Pastor Martin Niemöller
Daniel says
100% this. We are ALL immigrants. A quick look into familial lineage is quite eye opening. My mother’s maternal side is from Hungary. My great-grandparents came here in 1919, and my great-grandmother didn’t become a citizen until 1954. My grandmother was born in 1920. My mother in 1942. Me in 1980. My mother’s paternal side was here a bit longer, and helped establish a specific religion and fought in the revolutionary war.
Now on my father’s side, they were here practically from the beginning. They fed Washington and his troops. They married Native Americans. They fought in every war we’ve ever had. They were in politics. Doctors. Lawyers. Teachers. Yet, if the corrupt six on SCOTUS agree with the birthright citizenship BS, my citizenship is in question, unless they alter that it goes through the mother.
I bet Dennis has zero issues with all the white South Africans that Trump allowed in this country, because they’re white. Wonder what he thinks about this news (actually I don’t wonder, unlike Dennis I’m not full of hate because people want to come here for a better life. The immigration system is broken and it’s the fault of bureaucratic imbeciles who won’t fix it. I believe in America as it was conceptualized—a nation where people from around the globe can come together under the same flag, share different cultures, different ideas, and be a true melting pot of beauty in all shapes, sizes, colors, nationalities, genders, sexualities, etc. An all-white, Christian society is boring. Differences are beautiful and what makes the human species different from other mammals):
https://newrepublic.com/article/210405/trump-venezuela-51st-state-citizenship
Trump is offering US citizenship to all Venezuelans. What’s that about Dems and bringing in people to vote (which is such a crock of BS because there are literally laws that state you must be a US citizen, it’s been like that for centuries).
I have zero tolerance for hate, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, etc. People are people. These so-called Christians shame the word of Jesus. IF they read the book (there is no evidence they do), they would know that Jesus said (paraphrasing here), that only his words matter now. Nothing said before him is valid. The New Testament is what Christians should follow, as that is the word of Jesus. Know what he preached? I do. I actually studied Theology. Jesus said love the immigrant. Love your neighbor. Love all people. Basically, don’t be a d!ck to those who have it worse than you, are different from you, and instead help lift them up. He had no tolerance for hateful, greedy, ignorant people who abused and misused his message.
Deborah Coffey says
It is time for every single Republican in Tallahasse to “move on.” You are all cruel, incompetent, hateful and, you think nothing of USING all Floridians to pay for your corrupt and hateful projects. The majority of us have no use for you anymore. If you don’t manage to corrupt the vote this November, you will know that Americans don’t want you anymore.
Daniel says
I have never seen such hateful people in my life. Giddy at the thought of other humans suffering. Grabbing people from their jobs, from their immigration check-ins, rounding up people here granted asylum, throwing them in cages without clean water, food, and medical care. Think about that. If someone is working, they’re not hiding. If someone is checking in at a courthouse for their immigration status, they’re not hiding. They are following the law established in this country.
What burns me up is where is the outrage from his cult about offering statehood to Venezuela and “giving” American citizenship to all people in that country? Where is the outrage from the pro-lifers about all the senseless boat bombings, wars, decimation of food and medical aide responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths? There is no outrage because they don’t care. Their entire brand is hate for others that aren’t in the cult, who haven’t bent the knee, who still have critical, intellectual thought, and are woke.
I’ll tell you this, I’d rather be woke, than full of hate, and racism, and xenophobia, and homophobia, and transphobia, and misogyny. I am the better person. Call me a snob, an elitist, part of the woke mob (which is literally so stupid), because I don’t care. I’m proud I’m an America that believes in the foundational principles of America as she was conceptualized. A nation built on religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to exist as I am, whether you like it or not.
There’s a lot of work to be done once the MAGA torch burns out. Many gains achieved have been rolled back by the hateful corrupt six on SCOTUS and by people whose hoods have fallen off. It’s 2025 for goodness sake, and not 1825.
I’m really tired of the pandering and dumbing down of things because a large chunk of this country can’t comprehend anything beyond sixth-grade material. They have choices and opportunity to improve themselves. They choose not to do so. As such, it’s not my responsibility to educate when they’d rather keep their heads in the sand scared of a shadow that isn’t their own, scared of rainbow colors on a sidewalk, scared of supporting diversity, equality, and inclusion, scared of women having equal rights under the law including bodily autonomy, scared of LGBTQ people, scared of brown people, scared of flags other than the Stars and Stripes, scared of books, scared of TV, scared of music, scared of seeing someone that isn’t white in their neighborhood. How do they function with so much fear? It’s irrational. It’s small minded. It’s ripe for manipulation and brainwashing. Keep people scared and they’re easier to control. Give people knowledge and they become stronger and see through your lies.
Robjr says
So now the citizens of Florida are on the hook for the cost and have to wait for the adulterer in chief to pay up. And you know how that goes.