Florida to Close Alligator Alcatraz ICE Facility Due to High Costs as Permanent Sites Open

Florida's Alligator Alcatraz ICE holding facility will shut down as permanent detention sites open, a senior Florida government official told Fox News. The New York Times reported Thursday that Florida is in talks with the Trump administration to close the center, citing massive operational costs amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Department of Homeland Security determined the facility was too expensive to continue operating.

Florida has been spending more than $1 million a day to run the Alligator Alcatraz center. Since its inception the facility has processed over 21,000 illegal aliens for deportation. " The senior Florida government official said Alligator Alcatraz was built 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. As those permanent detention sites come online, the need for Alligator Alcatraz as a holding area will wane. Florida is glad to see DHS rebuilt under President Donald Trump.

The official added that the state continues to fully support the mission. When it is no longer required, Alligator Alcatraz will return to the Everglades with Florida's commitment that it will never be developed. The federal government has committed to reimbursing Florida for its immediate efforts to step in and help with this mission.

5-mile runway will remain available for large flights from neighboring ICE facilities. The developments follow a 2-1 decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed Alligator Alcatraz to remain open. The court ruled that the state-run facility was not under federal control and was not subject to federal law requiring an environmental impact review.

"Florida, not federal, officials constructed the facility," the majority wrote. " Florida officials constructed and entirely built the Alligator Alcatraz facility at state expense. The center is located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport site in the Everglades ecosystem, 36 miles west of Miami in Collier County, Florida.

A permanent Alligator Alcatraz sign was installed in the Florida Everglades on July 3, 2025. Three days earlier, on July 1, 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump toured Alligator Alcatraz in Ochopee, Fla.

On that date. The senior Florida government official emphasized that the state appreciates the federal government’s commitment to reimbursing Florida. The official noted that Alligator Alcatraz will return to the Everglades once its temporary role ends.