Trump admin pays Florida first $58 million in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ reimbursements, state says

The Trump administration has paid Florida $58 million for operating the Everglades immigrant detention center called “Alligator Alcatraz,” the first of promised federal reimbursements set to flow into the state.

The payment came in on May 18, three days after the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Florida’s emergency managers that $58 million of the promised $608 million had been approved.

“Yes, we have received it,” Stephanie Hartman, communications director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, told the Phoenix. FDEM is the agency in charge of the sprawling center deep within the Everglades.

Her confirmation came minutes after Gov. Ron DeSantis mused on the slow, bureaucratic pace of FEMA reimbursements — noting that federal payments for hurricane cleanup can sometimes take years.

“We’re now already seeing reimbursements [for ‘Alligator Alcatraz] flowing down,” DeSantis said at a Davie press conference Friday. “We’re gonna get that reimbursed — we’ve gotten some, we’ll get more.”

A FEMA spokesperson confirmed that the agency disbursed the money. It’s the first payment made from FEMA’s Detention Support Grant Program, a 2025 initiative created specifically to reimburse Florida $608.4 million for activities related to “Alligator Alcatraz” and other state-run detention centers.

Although it’s unclear which endeavors this payment will cover, the federal grant can only pay for operational costs — not modifications or construction linked to the remote Everglades center. So far, the facility — hastily built atop a mostly unused airport last summer — has cost Floridians $460 million.

Roughly $390 million of that went out between June and October. The center is expected to cost roughly $1 billion by its closing time, which The New York Times reports to be in the next month.

Under FEMA’s grant rules, the program can reimburse costs for:

• Clothing and bedding.
• Hygiene/laundry/janitorial services and supplies.
• Staff salaries.
• Meals and beverages for detainees and some food service equipment.
• Office supplies.
• Legal and translation services.
• IT support (does not include installation or maintenance of equipment).
• Medical equipment and supplies.