The DeSantis administration spend spent nearly two-thirds of Florida’s emergency fund last fiscal year on fighting illegal immigration, dwarfing spending for severe weather, international rescues, and other emergency missions for which the fund was created.
State records show that the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the agency in charge of the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Deportation Depot” lockups, shelled out $890 million in taxpayer dollars between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026.
Of that, $564 million — about 63% — went to immigration enforcement, meaning emergency managers spent more on immigration than all emergency missions combined last year.
The rest paid for assistance to counties and other states, costs associated with rescuing Americans from Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, and severe weather — including snow in the Panhandle, storms in Northwest Florida, and heavy October rainfall.
The spending represents a significant shift in the purpose of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, a trust created in 2022 to allow Gov. Ron DeSantis to quickly pay for disasters like hurricanes, floods, and more without legislative approval.
But in 2023, the trust became a financing vehicle for one of DeSantis’ top priorities: immigration. Gearing up for a presidential run and pressuring the Legislature, DeSantis declared a state of emergency on immigration — one that he’s renewed at least 20 times since.
This opened the fund’s dollars to immigration enforcement, allowing FDEM to spent $573 million out of it since 2023 — 98% of which was paid for in the past year. This is largely because of the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Deportation Depot,” facilities, state-run detention centers erected last summer, lauded by President Trump, and mirrored by Republican states nationwide.
But these costs represent just a fraction of the total to be spent on immigration. As the Phoenix previously reported, immigration contracts signed by FDEM are valued at roughly $1.01 billion. This doesn’t include isolated immigration costs like food, supplies, or travel.
FDEM still owes the vendors that built and ran the facilities at least another half a billion dollars.
Despite those outstanding costs, the fund has under $7 million left. Lawmakers approved another $250 million for the trust in June, but FDEM hasn’t asked for the money yet.
The agency missed the deadline for a new quarterly report detailing the fund’s health and cash projections, a requirement lawmakers added this year. Representatives of the Senate president and House speaker told the Phoenix they had not received the report, which was due five days ago. FDEM did not respond to questions about when it would submit the information.
Immigration spending from the fund last fiscal year exceeded the individual costs of several past emergency responses, including Hurricane Idalia, Hurricane Debby, Hurricane Nicole, and evacuation flights for Americans from Israel and Haiti.
The estimated $1.01 billion in immigration-related contracts, meanwhile, would rank as the third-largest use of the trust since its creation, behind only Hurricane Ian ($2.5 billion) and Hurricane Milton ($1.5 billion).
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
