Florida Official Says Alligator Alcatraz to Return to Everglades After Trump Funding Ends Need

A senior Florida government official told Fox News that Governor Ron DeSantis' Alligator Alcatraz ICE holding facility in the Florida swamp will return to the Everglades once it is no longer needed.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Florida is in talks with the Trump administration to shut down the facility due to massive operational costs in the hundreds of millions. The Department of Homeland Security also determined the facility was too expensive to keep running.

The official called Alligator Alcatraz a massive success but stressed its purpose was to give Florida and the Trump administration a rapid, temporary fix to four years of Biden's open border policies.

President Trump secured record funding from Congress for permanent sites to detain and deport illegal aliens, the official said. As those sites come online, the need for Alligator Alcatraz as a holding area will fade.

Florida is glad to see DHS rebuilt under President Donald Trump, the official added. 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.

The facility's 2.5-mile runway will stay available for large flights from nearby ICE sites, the official noted.

On costs, the official said Florida appreciates the federal government's commitment to reimburse the state for stepping in to help. Since its start, Alligator Alcatraz has processed more than 21,000 illegal aliens for deportation. Needless to say, it was a massive success.

This follows a recent 2-1 ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Florida's favor, allowing the facility to stay open. The court overturned a judge's order to wind down operations for failing to meet federal environmental law requirements.

The majority found the state-run facility was not under federal control and thus not subject to federal environmental impact review rules. Florida, not federal, officials constructed the facility, the majority wrote. They control the land and entirely built it at state expense.

The site sits at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport amid protected wetlands in the Everglades ecosystem, per court filings. The New York Times reported Florida spends more than $1 million a day to operate it.

Fox News Digital's Landon Mion contributed to this report.