The New York Times ran a story Thursday claiming Alligator Alcatraz is shutting down – and forgot to mention the 21,000 deportations.
Now DeSantis is speaking, and every word out of his mouth is the story the Times didn't want you to read.
Florida just told the world what Alligator Alcatraz actually was – and why closing it is the best possible news for America First conservatives.
DeSantis Said It on Day One
"I said on Day One it was going to be temporary."
That's what DeSantis told reporters Thursday in Lakeland – the same day the Times published its story about closure talks.
The Times framed it as a failure. DeSantis framed it as mission accomplished.
He's right and they're wrong, and the numbers prove it.
https://twitter.com/10TampaBay/status/2052556847198928988?s=20
A senior Florida official confirmed to Fox News that since opening, Alligator Alcatraz "processed over 21,000 illegal aliens for deportation."
Twenty-one thousand deportations.
"Needless to say, Alligator Alcatraz was a massive success," the official said.
What the Times Left Out of Their Story
The Times reported the facility costs Florida more than $1 million a day to run.
They reported that DHS concluded it was too expensive.
Here's what they didn't lead with: DHS didn't even respond to the Times' request for comment before publication.
The paper of record ran a hit piece on a facility that deported 21,000 people – and couldn't get the agency running the program to say a single word about it.
The Florida official told Fox News the federal government has committed to reimbursing Florida for its costs.
That detail didn't make the Times' lede either.
Reagan Figured This Out in 1980
This isn't the first time America faced a border emergency and reached for a temporary solution.
https://twitter.com/CaroCastilloCC/status/2052503149026382128?s=20
When more than 125,000 Cubans flooded south Florida's shores during the Mariel boatlift of 1980, the government scrambled to open emergency detention facilities – military bases, improvised camps, anything that could hold the surge.
Reagan formalized the lesson in 1983 with the Mass Immigration Emergency Plan, requiring 10,000 detention beds ready at any moment for exactly this kind of crisis.
The principle has been proven for 45 years: when the border breaks, you build something fast and you build it to work – not to last forever.
DeSantis didn't reinvent the wheel. He proved it still turns.
The difference is that Reagan was responding to a single summer's surge.
Biden invited millions in for four straight years.
A bigger invasion required a bigger response.
The 11th Circuit Already Ended the Left's Best Argument
Before the Times could declare Alligator Alcatraz dead, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals shut down the left's legal attack in a 2-1 ruling.
Federal judges determined the facility was not subject to federal environmental review requirements.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2052512567730250063?s=20
"Florida, not federal, officials constructed the facility," the majority wrote. "They control the land and 'entirely' built the facility at state expense."
Democrats tried to kill it in court. They lost.
They tried to kill it in the press. The Times ran the story without a DHS comment.
Now Florida is announcing the closure on its own terms – with a line that will live in the history books.
"When it's no longer required, Alligator Alcatraz will return to the Everglades with Florida's commitment that it will never be developed."
The land goes back to nature.
The runway stays for ICE operations at neighboring facilities.
The federal government has committed to paying Florida back every dollar.
What This Proves About the America First Playbook
The left's theory was simple: make it expensive enough, fight it in court long enough, and Republicans will fold.
DeSantis didn't fold.
https://twitter.com/CiberCuba/status/2052513373061812272?s=20
He processed 21,000 deportations and handed the Times a closing press conference where he got to say "mission accomplished."
That's the template Democrats fear more than any executive order.
When Biden collapsed the border in 2021, the standard Republican response was press releases.
DeSantis built something in a swamp – using state land, state money, and state authority to fill a vacuum the federal government left open for four years.
Now Trump's permanent infrastructure is online, funded by Congress, and processing deportations at scale.
The temporary solution is closing because the permanent solution is working.
Alligator Alcatraz didn't fail.
It finished.
Sources:
- Peter Pinedo, "Future of Ron DeSantis' controversial 'Alligator Alcatraz' ICE holding facility revealed," Fox News, May 7, 2026.
- "'Alligator Alcatraz,' Too Expensive to Run, May Close," FlaglerLive, May 7, 2026.
- "Report: Florida in talks with Trump administration to shut down Alligator Alcatraz," Local 10 News, May 7, 2026.
