How Did Governor DeSantis Pay for Alligator Alcatraz? Or Who Will Pay?

Dale said:

Where did Florida Governor Ron DeSantis get the money to build Alligator Alcatraz? The same question applies to other things DeSantis has done on his anti-immigration crusade. We know that the Florida legislature did not order these moves, authorize them, or appropriate the money to pay for them.

There are two answers. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, said that it would pay for Alligator Alcatraz. It has not, and there is now considerable doubt that FEMA ever will. So where did the money come from while waiting for reimbursement from the Feds? Governor DeSantis used funds from a Florida emergency fund.

You might have thought that emergency funds, Federal or state, would be used to help people recover from hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. A lot of people thought so.

“The state has used its Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to pay for immigration measures, including detention centers.”

DeSantis “issued an emergency declaration on immigration in early January 2023,” which is the excuse for using Florida emergency funds on Alligator Alcatraz. These quotes are from the Tallahasee Democrat.

The DeSantis administration told us that the Federal government would reimburse the state for the cost of building Alligator Alcatraz. Now, in a filing in Federal court: “… lawyers with the Department of Justice said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had not yet decided whether to reimburse the state.” This is from the Miami Herald.

It looks like Florida taxpayers are going to be paying for a project they didn’t ask for and the legislature never authorized.

Florida waits on $573 million for reimbursement of immigration costs​

Feb. 4, 2026 Updated Feb. 5, 2026
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/n...imbursement-of-immigration-costs/88507746007/
www.tallahassee.com is The Tallahassee Democrat

Florida taxpayers may be on the hook for Alligator Alcatraz construction bill
February 6, 2026
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article314607190.html

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The check is in the mail!

I can't remember all the details, but it seems to me that there was a Catch-22 involved. If the feds paid for it, then it would have had to obey federal environmental protection laws when it was built (which it didn't) so it would have to be dismantled. It can only stay open if the state paid for it. I expect Desantis is hoping that somewhere quietly down the line, the federal government will pay for it when it's not needed anymore.

Some of the older posts for context.

Post#1

Post#2

The taxpayers of Florida, of course.

$92 million for porta-potties? Big spending at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’| Column
Still no official audits of all this “emergency” spending.

With few checks and balances — and zero audits — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the name of an immigration “emergency.” Some of it was dished out in no-bid deals. Some to companies that first made campaign donations to the governor and Republican Party.

We’re talking $92 million in checks cut to a company named “Doodie Calls.”

That’s a you-know-what-load of money. All for a company whose registered lobbyist, Brian Ballard, is a fundraiser for both DeSantis and Donald Trump.

Doodie Calls, a St. Petersburg company that has been around for about eight years, also offers portable laundry facilities and showers.

So was it money well spent? Who knows?

Legislative leaders — who haven’t demanded the audits required by law — have instinctively defended the spending, but offered few specifics.

When asked about Doodie Calls’ $92 million payday, Senate President Ben Albritton said people need to remember that it was tricky to handle millions of gallons of human waste in a remote, environmentally sensitive location like the Everglades.

[Well, maybe it should have been built somewhere more convenient, albeit less attractive to the "suffering is the point" crowd.]