"Alligator Alcatraz," Florida's illegal alien immigration detention facility in the Everglades, is reportedly shutting down for good, with contractors moving forward with "full demobilization" of the site, sources told CBS News Miami.
The announcement comes after the center's final migrant detainees were moved from the facility last week due to the Atlantic hurricane season.
The move marks the end of a $1.2 billion operation once lauded by Federal and State officials as a solution to expedite criminal illegal aliens out of the country. Alligator Alcatraz was also costing the state of Florida more than $1 million to operate.
Notably, Florida is still waiting to be reimbursed on most of the $608M promised by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for operating the center. A payment of $58M came in May.
According to Gov. Ron DeSantis, more than 22,000 illegal aliens were processed and deported from the center, which was maligned by Florida Democrats as cruel and inhumane for much of its running.
Florida Attorney General James Uthemeir, who originally proposed the facility off an abandoned airfield, discussed the center's closing during questions at a press conference in Tampa this week.
"I do know that the people that were being brought in for detention, that number was going down. That was always to be expected. I think alligator Alcatraz actually stayed open longer than it was intentionally planned," Uthmeier said. "When it was first conceptualized, the federal government had not yet devoted money and resources towards immigration enforcement. There, the state of Florida, seeing the very dangers of an open border stepped up quickly working with the sheriffs who were having detention capacity issues, set up a site that was appropriate with a long runway to engage in proper deportation flights."
"Now that the federal government is resourced and standing up its own mission, using its own authorities, it is no longer necessary, and the plan has always been to protect the Everglades and take it back to a protected area where it's not a commercial business, an airport," Uthmeier added. "So, I anticipate you'll probably be able to get that confirmation (on the facility's closing) from somewhere else. I will say it was never expected to be a long-term thing."
