ICE Empties Alligator Alcatraz Before Hurricane Season
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- ICE confirmed Wednesday it moved all detainees from the soft-sided Alligator Alcatraz facility in the Everglades, citing hurricane season safety, though it disclosed no relocation destinations.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday the site was intended to last "six months to a year" and that closure could come "over the next week or two," adding: "I'm glad that we stepped up and filled the void there."
- Florida's Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund has been drained to $256 million after disbursing $573 million toward immigration, with the Legislature allocating $250 million in new funding contingent on DeSantis signing SB 7040, a bill that would impose guardrails on the fund's use.
- The DeSantis administration has collected only $58 million of the $608 million in federal reimbursement expected for the detention site, which opened in early July 2025 as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
- Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe continue litigation alleging the facility was rushed to completion without required review under the National Environmental Policy Act, while a separate suit targets air pollution from more than 200 diesel generators and 100 lighting towers on site.
- The Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and runs through November, prompted the evacuation; the facility sits on a remote Everglades air strip inside the Big Cypress National Preserve and adjacent to Miccosukee lands.
Why it matters: Florida diverted $573 million from a fund designed for hurricanes and extreme weather into a detention site the governor now says may close within weeks. With only $58 million of $608 million in federal reimbursement collected, taxpayers are absorbing the shortfall, and DeSantis has yet to sign a state budget that conditions new funding on legislative guardrails.
