HIALEAH—Congressman and Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds (R-FL) indicated his full support if the state of Florida and the Trump administration decide to close down Alligator Alcatraz.
"I supported it when the governor put it together, but I think even he acknowledged, and he's right, that it was always going to be a temporary facility until homeland [security] got their facilities up and running," Rep. Donalds said while speaking to The Floridian and NBC 6 in Miami. "It looks like they're on their way to do that. And so does it look like we need that facility much longer? Probably not. So I know the governor was always going to do the right thing when he came to that facility. I think a lot of us viewed it as a temporary situation, and it's fulfilled its purpose."
Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the possible closing while speaking to reporters in Lakeland this week.
"If they're able to handle that, so you're not releasing thousands of people, they can handle that, then yeah, that would be great for us to break that facility down," DeSantis said. "We are working closely with them; we want to accomplish the mission."
Alligator Alcatraz, a state-run immigration facility and old abandoned airport used to house illegal aliens, including those with serious criminal records, opened in July 2025. Gov. DeSantis noted the facility has processed and deported nearly 22,000 migrants since its opening.
"It's been very effective, and so we'll see kind of what the vision is going forward, about whether they want to pivot, because I know they do have more detention space now, and not just in Florida, but around the country," DeSantis said. "Fine, we're happy to roll however makes sense."
Gov. DeSantis noted Alligator Alcatraz was "always designed to be temporary." He also insisted that the federal government will fully reimburse the state, over 600 million dollars, for the cost of running the facility "very shortly."
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