Florida orders dismantling of Alligator Alcatraz after one year and roughly 1.2 billion dollars
Florida has ordered contractors to begin dismantling Alligator Alcatraz, the Everglades migrant detention site, after about one year of operation. All detainees have been moved to other facilities or deported. The project cost roughly $1.2 billion. Source: CBS News, PBS.
Florida has ordered contractors to begin dismantling Alligator Alcatraz, the migrant detention facility built on an abandoned airfield deep in the Everglades. According to reporting from CBS News, The Hill and PBS, companies running the site were told to start full demobilization, and every detainee has already been moved out, either transferred to other detention centers or deported to third countries. The facility opened in July 2025 and operated for roughly one year. State officials and outlets covering the closure put the total cost at about $1.2 billion, with the site reportedly costing Florida taxpayers more than a million dollars a day to run. Reporting points to escalating operating costs as the main reason for the shutdown. Federal reimbursement that the state had counted on has been held up amid court challenges and environmental disputes, leaving Florida to carry the expense. Conditions inside the facility had also drawn sustained criticism from attorneys, families and human rights organizations over the past year. Officials have indicated that once dismantling is complete, the cleared land could be returned toward its protected wetland status. Source: CBS News, The Hill, PBS.