Related videos:
The director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, dismissed any imminent closure of the immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” this Sunday, stating that state authorities have been instructed to continue expecting migrants at the facility.
Guthrie's statements directly contradict a report published days earlier by The New York Times, which indicated that Florida and the Trump administration were in talks to close the facility ahead of schedule, with the transfer of approximately 1,400 detainees planned for June and the dismantling of the structures in the following weeks.
"We have not been told to close the facility," Guthrie stated in an interview with Local 10 News. "We have been told to continue waiting for individuals."
The official confirmed that the center costs over a million dollars daily to operate and expressed confidence that the federal government would reimburse Florida for those expenses.
"An initial check is on its way, but I don't know what the amount will be," said Guthrie. "We requested about 90 million dollars, and then we requested an additional 300 million."
The financial context is critical: Florida's Division of Emergency Management has spent 458.5 million dollars of state emergency funds on immigration control operations during the last fiscal year, and some private providers have gone more than 200 days without receiving payments, which could compromise the hurricane response when the season begins on June 1.
Meanwhile, protesters gathered again in front of the center this Sunday in what they said was their 42nd consecutive Sunday of protest.
The protesters, who had received the New York Times report about the possible closure with optimism, described the facility as immoral and inhumane, and reaffirmed their commitment to continue the protests every Sunday until the facility is permanently shut down.
"We hope to have made a difference," said Reverend Tony Fisher of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Naples. "I believe we have probably generated enough attention."
Noelle Damico, from the organization The Workers Circle, was more emphatic: "We need to put an end to this, which is why you've seen hundreds of people gathered here week after week. When that day comes and the facility closes, it will be one of the greatest human rights victories."
Alligator Alcatraz was inaugurated on July 1, 2025, by President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis at an abandoned airstrip within the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Florida Everglades, constructed in just eight days using state emergency powers.
Since its opening, the center has accumulated reports of inhumane conditions: overcrowding, lack of food, inadequate medical care, extreme temperatures, non-potable water, and lack of access to lawyers.
Of the 1,400 migrants currently detained, between 700 and 800 are Cuban, and 70% of these individuals do not have final deportation orders, according to data from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On May 8, Governor DeSantis admitted that the center "was always temporary" and that it could be closed if they stopped sending detainees. However, he also warned that stepping away from the deportation mission would be "a major political problem."
Filed under: