Florida taxpayers may lose $218M on empty 'Alligator Alcatraz' as judge orders shutdown
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for $218 million the state spent to convert a remote training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention center dubbed “ Alligator Alcatraz.”
The center may soon be completely empty as a judge upheld her decision late Wednesday ordering operations to wind down indefinitely.
Shutting down the facility for the time being would cost the state $15 million to $20 million immediately, and it would cost another $15 million to $20 million to reinstall structures if Florida is allowed to reopen it, according to court filings by the state.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management will lose most of the value of the $218 million it has invested in making the little-used airport suitable for a detention center, a state official said in court papers.
Built in just a few days, the facility consists of chain-link cages surrounding large white tents filled with rows of bunk beds. As of late July, state officials had already signed more than $245 million in contracts for building and operating the facility, which officially opened July 1.
President Donald Trump toured the facility last month and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration races to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.
The center has been plagued by reports of unsanitary conditions and detainees being cut off from the legal system.
https://apnews.com/article/florida-immigration-ice-alligator-alcatraz-445e7cc7f6163d6a4749d452f2d57630Open linkView original on lemmy.world
Quite the headline you've got there.
The taxpayers are on the hook for this dumbass bullshit anyway, may as well skip the crimes against humanity.
I'm with you, as Florida resident im so pissed I have to pay for this, but am very glad its not actually going to be operating anymore.
Oh man, your taxpayer money was wasted on a concentration camp.
It's almost like you could have voted against this somehow...
I did.
You have to convince your brain dead cronies who didn’t though
Ever tried convincing someone that roots for Manchester United to instead root for Liverpool?
They t be neighbors, but they aren’t cronies.
Great now do Cop City.
Honestly though, what could possibly cost so much when you're building tents with chain-link fence inside? Did they spend it all on guns or did it just get laundered to politicians and their subcontractor friends?
What costs so much are the kickbacks and bribes. Trump is expanding an existing ballroom in the White House at a cost of $200 million right now too.
I think you know the answer
Do you really have to ask?
Hell yeah
The party of "fiscal responsibility", everyone!
Remind me how a bunch of tents cost over $200 million?
Maybe DOGGO got involved - the Department Of Gross Government Overspending.
They probably renting them, since it’s from Budget.
Budget Rent-a-Alcatraz
But hey, Trump and his buddies just made 218 million.
The memeification/cutesiness of the name of this center and others (Cornhusker Clink, Speedway Slammer) are blackpilling honestly.
Call them what they are. Concentration camps.
From wikipedia, emphasis mine:
in snow crash the the lobbies were also themed, but i guess disney hasnt purchased the geo group yet
*Aligator Auschwitz. FTFW.
But there's no money for healthcare or feeding children.
Are they winning yet?
I feel sorry for those floridians who didn't vote for this.
I wouldn’t doubt that someone made money on it. And lots of it.
State of morons. They deserve it.
When have conservatives actually cared about losing money?
When they can blame it on a Democrat leader
Bingo
If they follow the order.
It’s exactly that. They’re going to ignore court orders sooner or later.
Donald will just use a pos EO saying to leave it open, and people will think EO’s are laws.
Could not happen to a nicer bunch of MAGAts.
I'd vote to pay taxes on three times that amount if it would put a stop to all of this...
won't someone think of the bottom line
Lmao
AP focusing on the most important part as usual 🙄
It's not like this is their first story on the place. They've covered the abuse. I do wish they'd ball up and call it a concentration camp, though.
we can't shut it down, man. we've already spent a gorrillian dollars on the concentration camp 🥺