Florida Governor Ron DeSantis under mounting fire. This criticism follows DeSantis’ controversial creation of a migrant detention camp in the Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” That jail was built with the same $450 million in taxpayer dollars. Now, as the Atlantic hurricane season approaches its peak, worries are mounting over how we spend valuable disaster preparedness dollars. DeSantis anticipates that the costs will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Florida Democrats are rightfully outraged over the building of Alligator Alcatraz. In doing so, they are sounding alarms about the ethics of vendors who financially supported DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party. A tragic death last month gave a national spotlight to the jail’s dysfunction. Earlier this month, officials forcibly confined a 15-year-old boy identified as Alexis for days—even as DeSantis’ administration promised that only adults were kept in the facility.
Florida officials almost immediately hailed the expedited building of the facility as a victory. Not everyone is convinced, as some critics claim money would be better spent on disaster preparedness. The creation of this facility siphoned limited state resources away from all of the country’s other core services. Three of the vendors working on this project donated to DeSantis or the Republican Party.
“DeSantis’ cronyism and corruption is real and present,” said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. He’s made a name for himself in the art of stealing taxpayer dollars. She further noted it’s no surprise he would take hurricane preparedness funds to funnel into support for this misguided project. She lambasted him for keeping this all secret from the American people and issuing sweetheart contracts to his donors to construct a monument to cruelty and due process denial.
Talking Points Memo (TPM) did a nifty analysis that zeroed in on $20 million in contracts for Alligator Alcatraz. Notably, that $11,903,977.18 contract was awarded to Meridian Rapid Defense Group LLC. Some vendors allegedly imposed extra “rush fees” for getting required in-demand products to the facility.
The outcry against Alligator Alcatraz has now boiled over. Yet, people have banded together to start a Move On petition that has already collected close to 45,000 signatures calling for its closure. Critics remain adamant that constructing such a facility would be reckless even once. They further argue that it will damage their community and the state’s emergency preparedness.
“This place needs to be shut the hell down,” stated Wasserman Schultz, highlighting the urgency of addressing both ethical and practical implications of the facility’s operation. She called it an “outrageously wasteful publicity stunt, designed to separate immigrants from their money and distract from reckless Republican policies.”
And even in the face of massive public outcry over Alligator Alcatraz, DeSantis’ administration doubles down. They claim that the facility is needed for their immigration policy to work. They continue to assert that it is meant to stop illegal crossings in a way that protects the traveling public. Critics ask, does a facility like this really meet those goals?
“My admiration for Governor DeSantis has nothing to do with my business,” remarked Ed Mansouri, one of the contractors involved in building Alligator Alcatraz. None of this is a surprise to the growing number of observers worried about the way party loyalty and profits collide in state contracts. This announcement underlines that mounting concern.
Things are changing very quickly though. A lot of people, of all political stripes, are watching to see how this fight will affect DeSantis’ position within Florida and nationally. Against the backdrop of an impending hurricane season, the stakes for the debate over disaster preparedness funding and resource allocation have never been higher.