Florida Shuts Down Alligator Alcatraz Detention Center Amid $1 Billion Costs

Companies hired by Florida to run the Alligator Alcatraz detention center received notice Tuesday afternoon that the facility is shutting down. The remaining 1,400 detainees will leave in the coming weeks, four sources familiar with the announcement told CBS News Miami. The closure stems from operating costs that now approach $1 billion.

"They said the last detainee will leave in June," one source said.

Talk of closing the facility had circulated for the past week. Gov. Ron DeSantis said he expected it to shut soon. "If we shut the lights out tomorrow, we will be able to say it served its purpose," DeSantis said last week at a news conference.

Tuesday's notice to vendors marked the first formal word of a quick wind-down. Officials from the Florida Department of Emergency Management delivered the news on site. Kevin Guthrie, FDEM director, did not return calls for comment.

Once the roughly 1,400 people now held there are removed—either transferred or deported—state officials told vendors that demobilization would start. Workers will remove fencing, trailers and other structures at the Everglades site. That process should take two to three weeks. The site will then reopen as a small airport for pilot training.

Rising costs drove the decision to close Alligator Alcatraz, which President Trump once praised as a model for other states.

DeSantis's project opened July 3, 2025, using state tax funds. He had said the federal government would reimburse all expenses. State officials requested $608 million at the end of last year, and federal officials approved it. Reimbursement has stalled over court challenges, environmental concerns and other matters.

The state racked up another $300 million in costs since then. Three sources told CBS News Miami that Florida will likely get the initial $608 million back, but the extra $300 million has no such assurance.

The prospect of taxpayers covering that sum sped up the closure.

"Every day that it stays open, it is state taxpayers who will be paying the cost," one source said.

A second source familiar with vendor contracts added: "We have been told that we should be paid [from that original $608 million request] in the next few weeks, but the state is going to have to pick up the difference or work with the feds to convince them to pick up the balance."

The final cost to Florida taxpayers won't be clear until after shutdown.