Feds approve Florida for a $608 million 'Alligator Alcatraz' reimbursement

While the funds have been approved, they haven't yet been released since the Federal Emergency Management Agency's process requires that it review expenses for which reimbursement requests are made, Stephanie Hartman, director of communications for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in an email to The Associated Press.

The reimbursement process potentially exposes the state of Florida to being forced to unwind operations at the remote facility for a second time because of a federal judge's injunction in August. The Miami judge agreed with environmental groups who had sued that the site wasn't given a proper environmental review before it was converted into an immigration detention center and gave Florida two months to wind down operations.

The judge's injunction, however, was put on hold for the time being by an appellate court panel in Atlanta that said the state-run facility didn't need to undergo a federally required environmental impact study because Florida had yet to receive federal money for the project.

"If the federal defendants ultimately decide to approve that request and reimburse Florida for its expenditures related to the facility, they may need to first conduct an EIS (environmental impact statement)," the three-judge appellate court panel wrote last month.

The appellate panel decision allowed the detention center to stay open and put a stop to wind-down efforts.

President Donald Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.

Environmental groups that had sued the federal and state governments said the confirmation of the reimbursement showed that the Florida-built facility was a federal project "from the jump."

"This is a federal project being built with federal funds that's required by federal law to go through a complete environmental review," Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. "We'll do everything we can to stop this lawless, destructive and wasteful debacle."