By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Responding to a New York Times report, Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledged officials have discussed closing the detention center the state calls Alligator Alcatraz.
“It was always designed to be a temporary facility, and has made a major impact,” DeSantis said while in Lakeland on Thursday. “And if we shut the lights out on it tomorrow, we will be able to say it served its purpose, because it was responsible for helping with almost 22,000 illegal aliens. And that ultimately is what it’s all about.”
DeSantis added that “they haven’t said they want to wind it down. I mean, it’s been discussed because I think you had a new secretary come in, take a fresh look at these things.”
According to the New York Times story, which cites anonymous sources, Department of Homeland Security officials believe the center is too expensive.
Florida, anticipating federal reimbursement, has spent at least $640 million on the facility that opened July 3, 2025.
DeSantis, though, believes the effort has been worth it to house and later transfer undocumented immigrants out of Florida.
“If we didn’t have that facility, DHS did not have room to put them anywhere. They would have been released back to the public,” DeSantis said of those taken to the facility and another in north Florida called Deportation Depot. “I have no doubt that that has saved lives, and ultimately, it does save taxpayer money because you have all the services that go in to having to pay when people are here.”
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