# Florida Approves $250M to Cover Immigration Detention Debts
*Lawmakers approve emergency funds for DeSantis administration's immigration operations despite delayed financial reporting and mounting debts.*

- Medio: Civic Coast News (https://civiccoastnews.com)
- URL: https://civiccoastnews.com/noticia/florida-approves-250m-to-cover-immigration-detention-debts
- Sección: Politics
- Autor: Civic Coast News Staff
- Publicado: 2026-09-12T08:30:45.838Z
> Florida lawmakers approve emergency funds for immigration operations despite delayed financial reporting and mounting debts.

## Las claves

- The Florida Legislature approved $250 million in disaster funding to cover overdue bills from state-run immigrant detention centers
- Governor Ron DeSantis's administration submitted a critical fiscal report less than an hour before the legislative vote on Friday, September 11, 2026
- Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman criticized the delay as an abuse of emergency powers while the commission approved $8 million for National Guard pay

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Legislature approved approximately $250 million in disaster funding on Friday to help the state pay off mounting debts associated with Governor Ron DeSantis’s immigration enforcement operations. The appropriation comes after the DeSantis administration submitted a long-delayed report detailing how it has spent emergency money, turning in the document less than an hour before lawmakers were set to decide whether the agency should receive additional funds.

### Delayed Reporting and Legislative Pushback

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), which is involved in immigration enforcement after DeSantis declared a state of emergency on the issue three years ago, has promised at least $1.4 billion to vendors who built the state’s migrant lockups known as Alligator Alcatraz and Deportation Depot. According to an agency report initially due in mid-July, FDEM has racked up 592 unpaid invoices worth $417 million for immigration operations carried out during the last fiscal year.

Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman highlighted the timing of the submission during a joint Legislative Budget Commission meeting. “This morning — this very morning — we received the report. So a report due on July 15 came in on Sep. 11,” Berman said, noting that her staff had not yet had the opportunity to review the document. She accused the administration of abusing emergency powers by waiting two months before releasing critical fiscal data.

### Funding Breakdown and Future Projections

Despite the criticism regarding transparency, the commission approved roughly $8 million for National Guard pay to continue staffing the Deportation Depot immigration detention center in Baker County. An additional $187 million was allocated to FDEM, with the majority designated for unpaid bills related to past operations. The agency also received another $62 million for other emergencies, as we reported in [Florida Approves $250M for Immigration Debt Amid Delayed Report](/noticia/florida-approves-250m-for-immigration-debt-amid-delayed-report).

The report indicated that about 90% of the debts incurred last fiscal year from the emergency fund were for immigration purposes. However, these figures do not account for other unpaid tabs agreed to during emergency operations in 2023 and early 2025, nor do they reflect ballooned contract totals that surged earlier this month. The division set its “conservative projected estimate” for immigration-related spending in the current financial year at $500 million, as we reported in [Florida Delays Report on Immigration and Disaster Spending](/noticia/florida-delays-report-on-immigration-and-disaster-spending).

### Reliance on Emergency Powers

The funding is drawn from the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, a pool created in 2022 that allows DeSantis to quickly pay for disasters without legislative approval. Immigration enforcement has become the primary use of this fund in 2025. DeSantis has extended his immigration state of emergency more than 20 times; if he does not extend it again, that spending authority would expire next Friday, more details at [RTVE](https://rtve.es).

Independent calculations by The Herald/Times suggest that over the past year, the state spent more than $630 million and still owes $760 million on contracts alone. While specific costs for immigration operations were not fully explained in the report, largest outstanding debts are attributed to portable toilet company Doodie Calls and IRG Global Emergency Management.
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Fuente original: https://civiccoastnews.com/noticia/florida-approves-250m-to-cover-immigration-detention-debts