The immigration detention center in the Everglades, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," may close down earlier than expected, according to a New York Times article released Thursday.
ALSO READ: DeSantis confirms 'Alligator Alcatraz' may shut down sooner than expected
In it, three anonymous sources said talks to close the detention center are in the early stages between the state and the Trump administration. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security said it costs too much money to continue operating.
Reporter Patricia Mazzei, the Miami Bureau Chief for the newspaper, spoke with WUSF about her reporting and the feedback she's gotten since it came out.
The interview below has been edited for clarity and brevity.
MAZZEI: It's been interesting. People who have followed "Alligator Alcatraz," be they legislators, activists, or immigration lawyers, have not really been surprised by the news that officials might suddenly come to the realization that it's too expensive to operate. They have said from the beginning that it just does not make sense financially to have this operation so remotely, where there's no infrastructure, and they have to pay for everything, basically from the start.
There's activists who have been out there holding vigils every Sunday. There's immigration lawyers, families of relatives who have been in there for a long time. They intend to sort of continue the fight until they actually see it closed, and that includes the legal fight.
WUSF: Your article has three anonymous sources. One said they were connected to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration.
Were you surprised to see DeSantis come out that day and confirm the article? Especially since you mention at the end (of your article) nobody from his office responded for comment.
Yes, the governor came out that afternoon and confirmed the article. But we had good sourcing, and that's the reason we waited to have three of them and made sure that it was right. So it was a bit of lucky timing that the governor was having an event that very afternoon and got asked about it.
Can you talk a little about your sourcing? Why should people believe the article if the sources are anonymous?
Well, we try to be as transparent as possible. We don't just say three anonymous sources. As you know, we explain to the best of our ability, without disclosing who they are — a federal official, former ICE official, sort of close to the person, close to the DeSantis administration. And we say in the article (that) the people request anonymity because they were discussing private, sensitive conversations.
We confirm it from various sources, precisely so that we know that it's right. But it is of public importance to know what is going to happen to this facility, not only because it has so many detainees, but because, in fact, so many taxpayer dollars have been spent on it.
So we felt it rose to the level of, even if the sources are anonymous, we have enough of them, we're confident in them, and people need to know that this is under consideration.
But once we found out that it was true, it just, it rose to that level of importance, because it's a humanitarian question, a financial question, a legal question, and one of the biggest single issues in the state of Florida over the past year.
You also mentioned that private vendors are struggling to front the costs. Were you able to connect with any of them? Do they have any concerns about their contracts being fulfilled or paid?
I spoke to one. They are in a difficult position. They don't want to speak publicly because these are vendors that are already vetted by the state and called upon to respond to all sorts of disasters, for example, after hurricanes, to sort of no questions asked, do the work that they are vetted for and then get reimbursed six to eight months later by FEMA, so they're not in really in a position to sort of publicly criticize the state because they're under these agreements.
I asked the governor, actually, about this situation. On Friday, he had an event in Miami, and took some questions. I asked about the vendors saying they're not getting paid. And he directed the questions to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which has still not answered our questions that we sent early last week about this situation.
I also don't know the terms of the agreements with some of the vendors, and they might vary per vendor.
It is unclear why the vendors, or at least some of them, because maybe it's not all of them, have not been getting paid by the state. I'm not sure what the hold up is. Maybe some lawmakers could ask them about them as they're working out the state budget over the next couple of weeks.
ICE data shows there are about 1,400 male detainees at "Alligator Alcatraz." Did you hear anything about where those people will go if the detention center closes?
The governor said that ICE has more capacity now, more beds in other places, not just in Florida, but across the country, where they might be able to move people, but we don't know where that would be.
Want to join the conversation or share your story? Email Meghan at bowman4@wusf.org.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
