CBS News Miami investigates the cost of Alligator Alcatraz after its shutdown

Key Points:

• Governor Ron DeSantis announced the closure of Alligator Alcatraz, a controversial immigration detention center in Florida, which operated for less than a year and faced multiple lawsuits and abuse allegations.
• Financial analysis revealed the facility cost taxpayers approximately $3,571 per detainee per day, making it the most expensive immigration detention center in U.S. history, with total costs estimated at $1.2 billion.
• The high expenses were attributed to the remote Everglades location, requiring extensive infrastructure such as daily water and fuel deliveries, sewage management, and environmental protections, with the largest contract for waste management alone exceeding $200 million.
• Critics, including former Acting ICE Director John Sandweg, called for investigations into the facility's costs and questioned the necessity of building a new center given ICE's reliance on existing detention contracts nationwide.
• Despite DeSantis' claim that the facility prevented dangerous individuals from being released into communities, reports showed most detainees had no serious criminal records, and Florida taxpayers have so far been reimbursed less than 5% of the costs, with federal reimbursement still uncertain.