Alligator Alcatraz, the massive immigration detention center in Florida, was originally expected to cost taxpayers $450 million per year. Leaked documents show that, after being in operation for less than two weeks, the cost of the facility has ballooned to over $600 million.
The 30-square-mile facility located in the Florida Everglades west of Miami—complete with a functional airstrip—was selected to house, process, and potentially directly deport up to 5,000 detainees. First announced in a video posted on X by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on June 19, the project was touted as an "efficient" and "low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility" by using tents and the natural perimeter, presumably full of alligators and pythons. Despite opposition from the Miami-Dade County mayor, construction began at the site on June 28. After an opening day tour by President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem on July 2, the facility began accepting detainees.
To help cover the facility's estimated costs, Noem announced on June 24 that her agency would partially reimburse Florida for the project, funded "in large part" by a $625 million fund set aside by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program (SSP).
