Liv Caputo, Florida Phoenix

The federal government is withholding a $608 million grant to help pay for Florida’s migrant lockups because a required environmental review still hasn’t been completed, newly released records show.

The so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Deportation Depot” centers were projected to cost $1.7 billion over two years, with Floridians expected to pay at least $1.1 billion, according to nearly 3,000 pages of emails and financial sheets reviewed by the Phoenix.

And costs could climb even higher if the federal environmental review continues to delay reimbursement.

State officials say the review, which is being conducted by the feds, is “in progress.” FEMA couldn’t be reached for comment because of the partial federal government shutdown.

“Completing the EHP study is part of the reimbursement process and we continue to work with our federal partners to be compliant and complete all requirements to expedite the process,” Stephanie Hartman, communications director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM), told the Phoenix. She didn’t know when that would happen.

These new revelations are key to a pending lawsuit brought by environmental groups in which the state claimed that federal environmental restrictions don’t apply to the detention centers because they don’t use federal dollars or oversight.

DEM was forced to turn over these records to the plaintiffs as part of this suit. Groups like the Friends of the Everglades had demanded to know the exact dates that federal authorities and state officials agreed on the multi-million dollar grant.

“The records confirm what Friends of the Everglades has maintained from the outset: This is a federal immigration detention facility, conceived and constructed on the promise of federal funding,” Paul Schwiep, attorney for that organization, said in an email to the Phoenix. “Attempting to delay federal reimbursement to sidestep compliance with federal environmental law is gamesmanship — and will not work.”

The records help explain why Florida has yet to see a dime of federal money despite assurances it had been approved for the grant in September.

The records also highlight a contradiction in the state’s messaging:

• Publicly, Florida officials have dismissed the need to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because they say “Alligator Alcatraz” has received no federal funding and is entirely state-run. Executive Director Kevin Guthrie claimed the Justice Department was the agency tying up the funds.
• Privately, the correspondence shows, the agency knows why it hasn’t been paid: The federal government believes NEPA, through the environmental review, may apply to the state.

The review is a mandatory process that ensures federally funded projects comply with environmental laws like NEPA, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

$390 million in four months …

The revelations come as Florida lawmakers debate how to replenish the state’s emergency response fund, which expired Feb. 17 after legislators failed to agree on how much to spend on immigration enforcement.

Now that the fund is gone, Gov. Ron DeSantis would need legislative approval to quickly access emergency dollars for future disasters, such as hurricanes.

The fund, created in 2022 for immediate disaster relief, was opened to anti-immigration enforcement when DeSantis declared a state of emergency for immigration in January 2023. The state has drawn $573 million from the trust since then specifically for immigration actions.

Of that amount, the state spent $405 million in the past six months, including for private jet flights, restaurant meals, and legal fees.

The newly released records reveal even more spending, showing that although earlier media reports had calculated Alligator Alcatraz’s one-year price tag at between $250 million and $450 million, the center actually cost $390.2 million during its first four months of operation.

Projections by DEM revealed that the agency anticipated spending as much as $1.7 billion between June 2025 and July 2027 on the detention centers, although a spokesperson has claimed revised projections are much lower.

‘Designated recipient of FEMA grant funding’

Alligator Alcatraz, located in the Everglades, has drawn a number of lawsuits, including allegations of human rights violations and flouting of state-level laws.

At the same time, critics have attacked the center as an environmental nightmare since its June 19 creation.

The state drew a lawsuit from the Friends of the Everglades, the Miccosukee Tribe, EarthJustice, and Center for Biological Diversity days after construction began for allegedly violating NEPA. This federal law requires agencies to review environmental consequences before a project can be approved.

The DeSantis administration said it wasn’t using federal dollars so it didn’t have to comply. Although it won the suit, the state announced days later — on Sep. 15 — that it had applied for federal funding.

But a very different scene was playing out behind closed doors:

Florida had not applied for funding in September after all.

Instead, the state helped FEMA draft the grant language itself as early as June and initially applied for the program on Aug. 7, as the Tributary first reported. Records show the feds curated the program specifically for DEM.

“[DEM] is the designated recipient of FEMA grant funding, including my parallel role as the State Administrative Agent for all DHS domestic security funding,” Guthrie wrote on June 24, responding to a confused Miami ICE agent wondering which Florida agency the grant should be made out to.

“I am the designated state coordinating officer, governor’s authorized representative, and as indicated the state administrative agent,” he said.

The $608.4 million grant — called the Detention Support Grant Program — Florida was approved for on Sep. 30 was co-written by DEM and FEMA agents dating to at least June 23. Repeatedly, officials from both agencies traded emails back-and-forth with different draft grant versions, asking for “edits” and “input.”

But that wasn’t enough to get around environmental law.

In September, FEMA agents expressed concern about environmental issues getting in the way of grant disbursement.

“We still haven’t received the greenlight from our Department’s general counsel given the environmental nexus, but I expect that will be soon,” Stacey Street, FEMA’s deputy assistant administrator for grant programs, wrote on Sep. 27. A day later, she said that although she sensed “This is close to 100%…we are awaiting final steer from our DHS general counsel on the environmental litigation matter.”

Six months later, the review remains unfinished.

On Dec. 10, FEMA denied DEM’s $30 million payment request because the environmental review still wasn’t complete. Days earlier, state officials argued the review was unnecessary because Alligator Alcatraz is “not a permanent structure.”

The $608 million reimbursement, if received, would not cover any construction or modification costs. And until an environmental review comes through, the money won’t come at all.

A debate on racism, sexism, and in-context quotations erupted Tuesday over a bill that would make Charlie Kirk only the second person — after Ronald Reagan — to be comemmorated in Florida statute.

Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin would memorialize Kirk’s birthday, Oct. 14, as “Charlie Kirk Day of Remembrance.” It comes three months after Kirk, a 31-year-old podcaster and right-wing debater, was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University.

It would slate him alongside Reagan as the only two people to have a special observance day in Florida law. Unlike holidays, observance days don’t allow for time off from school or work, and are generally just a day of recognition for a figure or event.

“I think that anybody who saw the video of Charlie Kirk getting — at his last speech, his last rally … ” Martin said before the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, appearing to get choked up as he took a lengthy pause and cleared his throat. “… Would agree that it’s important to remember somebody who lived a peaceful life.”

He continued, “I think that Ronald Reagan would be 100% OK with a Charlie Kirk Remembrance Day in the state of Florida.”

Following Kirk’s assassination on Sep. 10, Vice President J.D. Vance canceled his 9/11 memorial visit to fly out west. A week later, President Donald Trump and top Cabinet members spoke at his memorial service, held at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The political ramifications were massive. Teachers nationwide were suspended or fired for either applauding Kirk’s death or publicly claiming he was hateful. Some in the Trump administration, along with all of the Florida Cabinet, supported visa revocations for visa holders celebrating his death.

In Florida, pro-Kirk bills flooded in. Aside from Martin’s legislation, Rep. Kevin Steele — a candidate for chief financial officer — is sponsoring a measure to rename a road at every state university after Kirk. Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Rep. Juan Porras have proposed a “Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue” in Miami-Dade County. And Rep. Yvette Benarroch is carrying an identical form of Martin’s bill in the House.

‘Does not deserve the honor’

Although Martin emphasized that his bill was designed to signal to Floridians that political violence is wrong, Democrats raised serious concerns about some of Kirk’s comments — which Martin claimed were “spliced” and out-of-context.

They included quotes deriding Michelle Obama, Joy Reid, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Ketanji Brown Jackson as lacking “the brain processing power” to be taken seriously; claiming “prowling Blacks” target white Americans; questioning whether certain Black people received a job because of affirmative action; asking Taylor Swift to “submit” to Travis Kelce; and suggesting some gun deaths might be worth it to keep the Second Amendment “to protect our other God-given rights.”

“If you have to go through such mental and verbal gymnastics to explain away what this man said, how does he deserve a day of remembrance?” Sen. Tina Polsky asked.

“He was a provocateur. He was a podcaster. He did go on these college campuses, and it’s great that he was debating with people — that’s what we do all the time, that’s fine. But he’s still responsible for his own statements, no matter how you try to justify it,” she continued. “He does not deserve this honor.”

The bill passed along party lines, and will advance to the Education Postsecondary Committee.

“I went back and watched the debates,” Martin said. “If you look at the context, there’s not a single thing that he said that would disgust any reasonable American. … I don’t arrive at the same conclusion that those in the media that were trying to attack Charlie arrived at.”