The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has launched a new program that will allocate over $608 million to help states detain illegal immigrants in state-operated facilities.
The grant program, known as the “Detention Support Grant Program,” is designed to relieve overcrowding in short-term holding facilities operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to FEMA documents posted on a federal government website.
According to the documents, the program is intended to help states and local governments expand their detention capacity as the Trump administration intensifies immigration enforcement efforts targeting illegal immigrants.
FEMA stated that the program will offer grants to help states cover the costs of detaining illegal immigrants in state-run facilities until they can be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
“Recipients and subrecipients may use grant funds for the costs of sheltering aliens in a detained environment,” the agency stated. The grant application process will remain open until Aug. 8, the notice said.
The launch of the grant program comes as the Trump administration escalates its efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants. President Donald Trump announced last month that he had ordered his administration to dedicate “every resource possible” to what he described as the “largest mass deportation operation of illegal aliens in history.”
FEMA, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is expected to fund the construction of the new Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention facility in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis stated on July 25 that his office plans to seek FEMA reimbursement for the project.
The facility, located in the Everglades, has the capacity to detain up to 3,000 illegal immigrants. Governor DeSantis announced that the first deportation flights, each carrying 100 illegal immigrants, departed from the facility to various countries earlier this week.
“Hundreds of illegals have been removed from here,” DeSantis announced outside the facility. “This airport is able to accept commercial-sized aircraft, and both conduct day and nighttime operations. That’s what it’s all about. To be able to process and remove folks that are illegally in the state of Florida and the United States of America.”
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DeSantis has dismissed criticism over the facility, saying at an event in Marco Island that it poses no threat to the Everglades. He also brushed off concerns from Collier County officials about the fast-tracked construction of the migrant detention center near the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, stating he’s not worried about local objections, according to Florida Politics.
“This is an existing airport. It’s an existing concrete. They’re not doing anything outside of a footprint they show, and they have a lot of great plans for how to handle everything that happens. And so that’s just not an issue,” DeSantis said.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on July 12 that her office is in discussions with five Republican-led states about building detention centers modeled after Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz facility.
“We’ve had several other states that are actually using Alligator Alcatraz as a model for how they can partner with us as well,” she told reporters without identifying which states are engaged in discussions.
President Trump has indicated he may consider phasing out FEMA and scaling back federal disaster aid to states after the current hurricane season concludes, potentially shifting primary responsibility for disaster response to state governments.
“We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down to the state level. … We’re moving it back to the states,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office on June 10.