The state's emergency coffers are nearly empty. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has about $6.4 million in reserves as of July 1.
About an hour before the Joint Legislative Budget Commission meeting on Sept. 11, newly appointed FDEM Interim Director Jared Perdue gave lawmakers the report outlining the agency's budget — it was due by last July 15.
Perdue requested an additional $250 million to help cover some of the agency's debts. A portion will go toward natural disaster and hurricane relief, but about three-quarters will pay outstanding invoices for immigration and detention operations — $187 million.
The report shows FDEM spent about $989 million during the 2025-26 fiscal year. Meanwhile, state records show nearly $568 million of it went to immigration-related expenditures, making it more costly than any other natural or man-made emergency last year.
"The bulk of this request is for outstanding invoices and services that have been rendered as part of the (immigration) operation that is ongoing with FDEM," Perdue said.
He's referring to Operation Vigilant Sentry, or OVS. The report said that "mission includes the detention of illegal immigrants in Florida and their movement back to their home country while supporting federal efforts to protect the United States from the incoming illegal immigrants."
FDEM estimates it will spend $500 million on it during this fiscal year.
The report showed 592 pending invoices for the immigration operation — most of the vendors helped operate "Alligator Alcatraz."
A couple of lawmakers pushed back during Friday's meeting, including Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman. She claimed the governor's extension of emergency orders on immigration was a pretense to divert funds from emergency reserves.
"This is not the way that we should be spending our Florida money. We need more legislative oversight. We need transparency. When they come to us at the very end and say, 'We've already made these expenditures, now we want reimbursement,' we're boxed in in the legislature," Berman said.
"We're not given the opportunity to say, 'No, this is not where we want the money to go. The continued abuse of this emergency power is an insult to our constitution and the people of Florida," she added.
The governor first signed the emergency declaration for illegal migration in Jan. 2023.
The FDEM report came the same day the Department of Homeland Security released an Inspector General's report about the conditions inside the immigration detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."
ALSO READ: Lawmakers react to new report outlining substandard conditions for detainees at 'Alligator Alcatraz'
For FDEM's role in immigration enforcement, State Rep. Anna Eskamani said the agency did not spend conservatively.
“This agency was given a blank check, acted irresponsibly, (and) just got more money of your tax dollars," she said. "And this vicious cycle will continue unless something changes in our political landscape through the November elections.”
So far, the state emergency management agency has received about 14 percent of the promised $608 million federal reimbursement for operating Alligator Alcatraz.
Eskamani said it's unclear if the rest of the federal money will come.
The agency indicated a worst-case scenario — that without the additional money, if at least two major storms come through Florida, it could be in the red by about $1.5 billion by the end of June.
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.
