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Governor Ron DeSantis’ famed “Alligator Alcatraz” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holding facility in the Florida swamp will “return to the Everglades” after it is no longer needed, a senior Florida government official has told .
The New York Times reported Thursday that Florida is in talks with the Trump administration to shut the facility down, citing massive operational costs amounting to hundreds of millions. The outlet also reported that the Department of Homeland Security determined the facility was too expensive to continue operating.
Though calling Alligator Alcatraz a “massive success,” the Florida official emphasized that the facility’s purpose was “to provide Florida and the Trump administration with a rapid, temporary solution to four years of Biden’s open border invasion.”
“President Trump secured record funding from Congress to set up permanent sites for detaining and deporting illegal aliens,” the official noted, explaining, “As those sites come online, the need for Alligator Alcatraz as a holding area will wane.”
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Workers install a permanent Alligator Alcatraz sign in the Florida Everglades, 36 miles west of Miami, in Collier County, Florida, on July 3, 2025. (Getty Images)
The official said Florida “is glad to see DHS rebuilt” under President Donald Trump.
“We continue to fully support the mission,” they said. “And when it’s no longer required, Alligator Alcatraz will return to the Everglades with Florida’s commitment that it will never be developed.”
That said, the official said the facility’s 2.5-mile runway will remain available for large flights from neighboring ICE facilities.
Regarding the operational costs, the official said, “We also appreciate the federal government’s commitment to reimbursing Florida for its immediate efforts to step in and help with this mission.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump tour Alligator Alcatraz in Ochopee, Fla., on July 1, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images)
The official said that “since its inception, Alligator Alcatraz has processed over 21,000 illegal aliens for deportation.”
“Needless to say, Alligator Alcatraz was a massive success,” they added.
This comes shortly after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Florida’s favor that Alligator Alcatraz could remain open, following a judge’s order for the facility to wind down operations for failing to comply with federal environmental law.
In a 2-1 decision, the majority on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found the state-run facility was not under federal control and was not subject to federal law requiring an environmental impact review.
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President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem tour the migrant detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz in Ochopee, Fla., on July 1, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)
“Florida, not federal, officials constructed the facility,” the majority wrote. “They control the land and ‘entirely’ built the facility at state expense.”
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The facility is located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport site, an area surrounded by protected wetlands within the Everglades ecosystem, according to court filings.
The New York Times reported that Florida has been spending more than $1 million a day to run the center.
Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
