Florida will soon close Alligator Alcatraz, a highly publicized immigration detention center that opened in the Everglades less than a year ago, according to multiple news reports citing unidentified officials.
Companies hired to run the detention center were told May 12 that the facility would be shut down in June, the New York Times and CBS News reported.
The cost of operating the center is the reason. Documents obtained in March by the Naples Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Network, indicated $1 million per day was spent on Alligator Alcatraz.
Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, told the Naples Daily News and Fort Myers News-Press on May 12 that she received a text from a member of Congress that said the center was closing.
The 1,400 people held in the center will be removed in the next few weeks. It is not yet known where they will be moved.
