Alligator Alcatraz is expensive political theater.

[hay rick]

VoteWater is an Everglades advocacy group in Florida. Link to article here: https://votewater.org/alligator-alcatraz-when-political-theater-costs-millions/

The facility, hastily constructed on the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, will reportedly cost $450 million per year to operate, a cost that’s being covered by Florida taxpayers unless and until the funding is reimbursed by the federal government.

But in fact, both the state and federal government, according to court filings, agree the feds haven’t formally agreed to foot the bill. “There has been no final federal funding decision,” said Florida Department of Emergency Management’s Kevin Guthrie in his response to the lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity. Rather, Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem’s promise to use FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program revenue to pay for Alligator Alcatraz amounts to “an informal statement of future intent, not final agency action.”
....
Moreover, the cost could exceed that $450 million price tag. According to DropSite News, internal FEMA documents show the cost of operating the facility ballooning to more than $600 million.
....
Illegal immigration expenditures, by law, are supposed to be audited if an emergency is extended for more than one year, meaning there should have been two annual audits by now for a declaration made in January 2023. Instead, there have been no audits. So there’s no way to know if Floridians are even getting sufficient bang for their immigration enforcement buck.

Finally there’s the site, which Uthmeier has called “efficient.” But due to the isolated location, all supplies must be trucked in over comparably long distances, while waste must be trucked out. It’s actually one of the least efficient locations possible; its remoteness adds to the operating cost of $245 per bed, per day.

Emphasis is my own.