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The Trump administration is offering $688 million to states willing to expand their immigration detention efforts.
According to FEMA documents, the funds, released through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA)’s new Detention Assistance Grant Program (DEP), are intended to help build or expand temporary detention facilities modeled on Florida’s Everglades compound known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“[Department of Homeland Security] Director Kristi Noem is very clear that Wannial Catraz could be a blueprint for other states and local governments to help detain,” a DHS spokesman told Fox News Digital on Friday.
The funds are part of FEMA’s shelter and services programme, and are open to applications until August 8th with each FEMA announcement.
Trump says the only way out of “Algater Alcatraz” is to exile
President Donald Trump is adjacent to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and DHS Secretary Christa Noem after arriving at Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport in O’Copy, Florida on July 1. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)
The program aims to quickly build safe temporary detention sites for state or local lands, avoiding long procurement delays.
NOEM criticizes federal contractors as expensive and slow, and encourages them to play a more direct role in the governor.
“They were willing to build it and do it much faster than some of the other vendors,” Noem said of Florida. “And that was a real solution we could use if we had to.”
The Florida facility was built in just eight days on the remote Everglades land at Dade Carrier Airport. It holds up to 3,000 immigrants and is surrounded by fencing, marsh and natural barriers.
During his July 1 visit, President Donald Trump praised it as “very professional and very well done,” calling it “a model that I want to see in many states.”
“We are surrounded by miles of dangerous swamps and the only way we can really deport them,” he added.
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Workers will install a sign for Crocodile Alcatraz, an immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades in Collier County, Florida (Getty Images).
Florida officials have confirmed they are seeking FEMA refunds to cover the camp’s estimated $450 million annual operating expenses. State officials say the site is eligible for federal funding under new grant guidelines.
According to NOEM, five states are currently discussing with DHS about the construction of similar detention facilities.
“We have had several other states that actually use Wannial Catraz as a model for how we partner with us,” she said in a recent news briefing.
President Donald Trump talks to Christa Noem’s DHS secretary as he tours an immigration detention center called “Alligator Alcatraz” in O’Copy, Florida on July 1 (via Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
“I hope my phone rings and says, ‘How can I do what Florida did?’ ”
The new funding is because the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) aims to double the capacity to detain.
According to DHS planning documents, ICE has detained more than 56,000 immigrants the highest since 2019, the highest since 2019, and is targeting 100,000 beds by the end of the year.
According to a DHS post, the funds will be distributed by FEMA in cooperation with customs and border security.
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FEMA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Greg Norman, Emma Colton and Mara Robles of Fox News contributed to this report.
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