Work continues on a new migrant detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades. Crews were seen at the site on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Florida. Court records show that Florida has not received any federal funding for the controversial detention center, despite assurances from Gov. Ron DeSantis that taxpayers would be reimbursed.
Our investigative team has been seeking answers about who is paying for the immigration detention facility called “Alligator Alcatraz” since it opened in the Everglades over the summer. In October, we reported that FEMA had approved more than $600 million to reimburse Florida for building and operating the facility.
Newly filed court documents now show the state has not received any of that money.
More than two months after FEMA awarded the $608 million grant, neither the U.S. Department of Homeland Security nor the Florida Division of Emergency Management has responded to our questions about whether any funds have been disbursed.
Just last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis reassured Florida taxpayers that they would not be responsible for the costs of “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“I always get these questions or people will say, ‘Oh, Florida taxpayers are funding that’ — first of all, it’s reimbursed,” DeSantis said. “It’s reimbursable, 100%.”
However, appellate briefs filed this week by both state and federal governments indicate no reimbursement has occurred.
“No federal dollars have been expended on the facility’s construction or operation and unrealized plans to provide federal funding are legally insufficient,” attorneys representing the federal government wrote in their brief.
The documents repeatedly describe the detention facility as a state-funded operation. A separate brief filed by the state of Florida supports that claim, while noting that federal funds were awarded but not disbursed.
“The writing has been on the wall from the start,” said Tania Galloni.
Galloni serves as the managing attorney for Earthjustice in Florida, the law firm representing environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe in the federal case tied to the briefs. They argue that “Alligator Alcatraz” should be shut down because the government violated the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to conduct environmental impact assessments before launching major projects. The law does not apply to state governments.
“It is an avenue that the agencies right now are trying to dance around in a way to avoid liability for environment, for complying with environmental law,” Galloni said.
In August, a U.S. District Court judge ordered the shutdown of “Alligator Alcatraz.” Two weeks later, the Court of Appeals issued a stay while a full appeal proceeds, pausing the lower court’s order and allowing the facility to remain open.
Galloni said any future federal funding would not affect her case.
“In all the public statements by Secretary Noem, by the president, by the governor — all the public statements have been super clear what this arrangement was from the get go, that the money hasn’t changed hands is really neither here nor there,” Galloni said.
DeSantis maintains that “Alligator Alcatraz” ultimately saves taxpayer money.
“Illegal immigration costs taxpayers. It costs health care. It costs education,” DeSantis said. “I never hear the media or the critics talk about how much we’re saving.”
WPTV contacted FEMA to ask why, as the brief states, its “unrealized plans to provide federal funding are legally insufficient.” FEMA acknowledged the request but has not provided a response. The Florida Division of Emergency Management also has not replied to the same inquiry.
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