OCHOPEE, Fla. — A federal court filing on Thursday casts doubt on the Trump administration’s claims that the federal government would pick up the tab for the immigration detention facility hastily built in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
During President Donald Trump’s visit ahead of the facility’s opening this week, he said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would pay for the construction and operation of the site, which was built to temporarily house 3,000 immigrant detainees as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s struggles to find space.
“We took the FEMA money that Joe Biden allocated to pay for the free luxury hotel rooms where he’s paying hundreds of millions of dollars in New York City, and we used it to build this project,” he said.
The estimated cost for a year of operations was $450 million. The Florida Department of Emergency Management, which gets some of its funding through FEMA, used taxpayer money to get the project going but had been expecting to be reimbursed by Washington for at least some of the costs.
Thursday’s filing came in response to environmental activists’ demands that a judge block the opening of the facility because of effects on plants and wildlife in the sensitive ecosystem.
“Florida is constructing and operating the facility using state funds on state lands under state emergency authority and a preexisting general delegation of federal authority to implement immigration functions,” Trump administration attorneys wrote to the judge. “Any potential federal funding claims are unripe. Florida has received no federal funds, nor has it applied for federal funds related to the temporary detention center.”
It’s not clear when a reimbursement will happen, if ever. On Instagram, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the money would come from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program.
Whether congressional approval will be needed to shift that money is also to be decided.
If Congress gets involved, Democrats would likely object to funding being used to house immigrants under tents, despite the administration’s claims the tents are rated for Category 2 force winds.
Others may object to FEMA funding being used for detention centers instead of preparing or recovering from the upcoming hurricane season.
Gov. Ron DeSantis also has not said if a similar arrangement is being made for his proposed second detention facility in the Jacksonville area.
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