Is ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention centre funded by Florida hurricane money?

Florida and federal officials announced the state will build a new immigration detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades – an area of wetlands in the south of the state. Because the facility will be partly funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), some Floridians are worried it will affect hurricane relief funds.

Homeland Security’s Secretary Kristi Noem “is using FEMA funds to build her Alligator Alcatraz concentration camp in Florida. At the beginning of hurricane season”, reads a June 23 X post, “when we can’t pay our bills or fund meals for kids and the elderly.”

Another June 23 X post reads: “Florida’s building ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ by diverting FEMA shelter funds meant for housing and aid. They’re not protecting anyone, they’re stealing emergency relief money to build detention centers in a swamp. Cruelty is always the point.”

These claims come after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted a more-active-than-normal 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.

The claims also follow President Donald Trump saying he wants to eliminate FEMA and have states handle preparation and response to hurricanes and other disasters. NPR reported that FEMA appears less ready to respond to disasters under Trump because of a management shake-up, employee departures and the cancellation of a programme that helped with disaster relief.

The “Alligator Alcatraz” facility gets its nickname from Alcatraz, the former maximum-security prison island in San Francisco Bay known for its isolation, security and minimal inmate privileges. The “Alligator” part is because the 39-square-mile facility will be located remotely in the Everglades, a swampy region surrounded by alligators and pythons, where “there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to hide”, according to a June 19 video posted by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. The facility would be six miles north of Everglades National Park.

Governor Ron DeSantis’s office told PolitiFact the facility will use temporary buildings and shelters similar to those used during natural disasters. The location will be the abandoned Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, which has an existing airstrip. The state will use the site under the governor’s emergency powers.