Florida's Alligator Alcatraz Awarded $608M In FEMA Funding

The decision to grant $608 million in FEMA funding to the Everglades South Florida Detention Center, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” is deeply troubling. This facility sits in one of the most environmentally sensitive regions in the country, and advocates say it should never have been funded in the first place. Governor Ron DeSantis announced the reimbursement on X, saying, “I said all along that we would be reimbursed.” But to those fighting for the Everglades and the wildlife that depend on it, the money is not a win — it’s proof of wrongdoing.

Eve Samples, Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades, argued that this award validates the lawsuit her group filed: “The state and federal government continue to dodge their responsibility for complying with environmental laws, and the Everglades are paying the price. The award of FEMA funds is more clear evidence that activity at Alligator Alcatraz must be halted to comply with bedrock environmental protections.”

The lawsuit centers on the legal requirement that federally funded projects undergo environmental review to protect endangered wildlife. Elise Bennett of the Center for Biological Diversity stated bluntly: “This seems to be the smoking gun proving that our lawsuit challenging Alligator Alcatraz is entirely correct. This is a federal project being built with federal funds that’s required by federal law to go through a complete environmental review. The Trump administration can’t keep lying through their teeth to the American public at the expense of Florida’s imperiled wildlife. We’ll do everything we can to stop this lawless, destructive and wasteful debacle.”

In June, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity won a district court ruling ordering the detention center to wind down operations. That order was paused in September by a federal appeals court, partly because there wasn’t yet proof of federal funding. Now that FEMA dollars are flowing, advocates argue the case is undeniable: operations should be halted immediately until a full review is completed.

Link: GulfCoast News Now