Florida shutters Alligator Alcatraz as costs push closure

Florida plans to close the Alligator Alcatraz detention center by June after vendors were told the facility would be demobilized; about 1,400 detainees will be moved or deported, with the site then repurposed as a small airport for pilot training. The decision comes as operating costs near $1 billion, with federal reimbursement of the initial $608 million and an additional $300 million in expenses uncertain, potentially leaving taxpayers to cover the gap.