Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t worried that the federal government shutdown will slow reimbursement funds from reaching Florida for Alligator Alcatraz.
“It’ll be resolved at some point and I have no doubt that the checks will be flowing,” DeSantis said at the Jacksonville International Airport after an event spotlighting local spending he believes is wasteful.
DeSantis has previously said reimbursements would happen “eventually,” and he was no more specific on the time frame during his latest remarks. The Wednesday presser was more focused on other issues, such as the media not knowing how much the immigrant prison camp at a training airport in South Florida cost.
“They used to say it cost $400 million to open it. It did not,” DeSantis said, while never mentioning exactly how much the state has spent thus far. “They’ll add up all this stuff, they play those games. But we knew we were going to be reimbursed.”
DeSantis also thinks critics ignore the hidden costs of illegal immigration.
“I love how the media will say, ‘Well, how much does it cost to house a detainee?’ They never ask, what’s the cost of illegal immigration? How much does it cost schools? How much does it cost hospitals? How much does it cost the criminal justice system, our jails, our prisons, if people are committing crimes? What’s the cost to families that have been victimized by criminal aliens?” DeSantis said.
“So what we’re doing, yes, we’re going to get reimbursed, but we’re saving costs on our society by enforcing the rule of law.”
