logo
DeSantis under fire for using disaster funds to build migrant detention jail

DeSantis under fire for using disaster funds to build migrant detention jail

The Guardian6 days ago
Officials in Florida diverted crucial disaster preparedness and response resources to support the hasty construction of the so-called Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention jail by the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, a newly published report has claimed.
Some of the $20m in contracts analyzed by Talking Points Memo (TPM) before they inexplicably disappeared from the Florida department of financial services website went to donors or political allies of DeSantis, the report said.
Most of the money went to companies providing construction services, communications equipment to be used by jail staff, and security enhancements, according to TPM.
In a separate development on Thursday, it was disclosed that a 15-year-old boy was detained and held at the controversial remote Everglades jail for several days earlier this month, despite the insistence of state and federal authorities that only adults were housed there.
DeSantis's alleged raid on resources intended for disaster response has prompted fury from Florida Democrats, who say creating a deficit as the Atlantic hurricane season approaches its peak is the height of irresponsibility.
'DeSantis already operates under a cloud of corruption when it comes to stealing taxpayer dollars,' said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who toured the remote Everglades detention center on Saturday with other Democratic lawmakers, and declared conditions there 'inhumane'.
'It's no surprise he'd siphon off and create shortfalls in our hurricane preparedness funds for this boondoggle, then hide it from the public, or that he'd hand out sweetheart contracts to donors to build this monument to cruelty and denied due process.'
DeSantis has said the jail was set up, and will be operated, using $450m in taxpayers' money he expects to be refunded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). Yet in the government's response to a lawsuit filed by environmental groups seeking to close the controversial camp, Trump administration officials have attempted to distance themselves from the project.
TPM identified $19,983,785.03 in more than a dozen contracts that the state was invoiced for, or paid, from nine separate vendors. Some charged additional 'rush fees' for supplying their products, reflecting the DeSantis administration's urgency to get the camp up and running in time for Donald Trump's visit on 1 July.
At least one of the documents confirmed that resources allocated for Florida's 'disaster preparedness' apparatus were diverted to the jail, TPM said, and that all had come from the executive office of the governor and were marked 'procurement per executive order'.
The largest contract was for $11,903,977.18 to a company called Meridian Rapid Defense Group LLC, a provider of vehicle barriers that were used at DeSantis's 2023 inauguration.
The company's chief executive, Peter Whitford, told TPM he did not know if the 100 barrier sets ordered were destined for Alligator Alcatraz.
'What they do with that product is not part of our purview,' he said.
Previous reporting by the Miami Herald revealed that at least three vendors who won Alligator Alcatraz contracts had made financial donations to DeSantis or the Florida Republican party. TPM identified a fourth, a company called WeatherSTEM Inc, whose founder Ed Mansouri gave $3,000 to DeSantis in 2021.
Mansouri, whose company received a $24,740 contract for two lightning detectors, charged a $750 rush fee on each unit, the documents show. Mansouri told TPM: 'My admiration for Governor DeSantis has nothing to do with my business.'
According to the report, copies of all of the contracts were originally posted to the Florida accountability contract tracking system on the website of the state's department of financial services, but mysteriously disappeared during the course of TPM's reporting.
None of the state entities contacted by the Guardian for comment responded.
Thursday's revelation that an undocumented minor was sent to the jail, meanwhile, angered immigration advocates, who said it showed the chaotic nature of the state's haste to populate it with detainees with no criminal record or active proceedings.
The Tampa Bay Times identified the child as a 15-year-old Mexican national named Alexis, who was riding with friends in a vehicle stopped in Tampa by the Florida highway patrol. Troopers handed over the group to the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, who sent them to the Everglades facility on the day it opened.
Alexis's father told the newspaper he did not know where his son was for several days until he received a call from the camp. The Times said Alexis was now at a federal shelter for migrant children.
In an email to the newspaper, Stephanie Hartman, spokesperson for the Florida emergency management division that operates the jail, said Alexis had lied about his age.
An alliance of environmental groups, immigration advocates, Native American tribes and Democratic politicians has formed in opposition to the jail. A Move On petition calling for its closure had recorded almost 45,000 signatures by Thursday.
'This place needs to be shut the hell down,' Wasserman Schultz said.
'This internment camp is an outrageously wasteful publicity stunt, designed to hurt immigrants and distract from reckless Republican policies.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Police documents released after Bryan Kohberger's sentencing detail strange happenings weeks before
Police documents released after Bryan Kohberger's sentencing detail strange happenings weeks before

The Independent

time16 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Police documents released after Bryan Kohberger's sentencing detail strange happenings weeks before

In the weeks before Bryan Kohberger killed four University of Idaho students, there were strange happenings at their rental home near campus. One of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves, told her roommates she saw a man she didn't recognize staring at her when she took her dog outside. Another time, the residents came home to find the door open, loose on its hinges. They grabbed golf clubs to arm themselves against a possible intruder. Those details were included in hundreds of documents released by police within hours of Kohberger being sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the brutal stabbing murders of Gonclaves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin early Nov. 13, 2022. It remains unclear whether the strange happenings had anything to do with the killings. But the documents but do illustrate the frenzied efforts by law enforcement to follow every possible lead to find and convict Kohberger. Here's a look at some information from the documents: Curious happenings at 1122 King Rd. Bethany Funke was one of two roommates to survive the night of the stabbings. In interviews after the murders, she told police that about a month earlier, Goncalves had taken her dog, Murphy, outside when she saw an unknown man 'up above their house to the south,' staring at her. It was concerning enough that Goncalves 'told everyone' about it and called her roommates to ask if they'd be home soon, Funke said. Then, on Nov. 4, nine days before the attack, the roommates came home at 11 a.m. to find the door open, loose on its hinges, as the wind blew. Goncalves was away at the time. Kernodle's father fixed the door, Funke reported. On Nov. 13, police found a gruesome scene. Blood pooled on bed comforters, covered floors and was splattered on walls. One the victims, Kernodle, had extensive defensive wounds; in her room 'it was obvious an intense struggle had occurred,' one office wrote. Detailing the investigation's steps Tips poured in. A staff member at Walmart told police that two to three weeks earlier, a white, college-age male had come in looking for a black ski mask that would cover his face. People who saw online feeds of some of the victims at a food truck offered their thoughts about a possible perpetrator, and investigators also looked into leads about bar-goers they had seen earlier in the night or an Uber driver they frequently used, the documents show. A woman who lived nearby told police that in either August or September 2022, she and her daughter saw a man in their yard who 'looked nervous.' She said she was almost certain it was Kohberger. Officers eventually identified Kohberger — a doctoral student in criminology at nearby Washington State University — using a DNA sample found on a knife sheath at the crime scene. They tracked his movements that night with cellphone data, obtained online shopping records showing he had purchased a military-style knife, and linked him to a car that repeatedly drove by the students' house. The documents include memos memorializing the subpoenas or warrants they served seeking records and the responses to those requests. Investigators served a warrant on the dating app Tinder, looking for accounts Kohberger might have created with certain emails and which might link him to his victims. No such evidence emerged, and the motive for the killings remains a mystery. Kohberger spoke with police — briefly Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, about six weeks after the killings. He was taken to a state police barracks to be interviewed by officers from the Moscow police department, Idaho State Police and the FBI. They chatted about the Washington State football team, Kohberger's doctorate studies in criminal justice, his required duties to be a teaching assistant while in college, and why he wanted to become a professor. Kohberger eventually said he understood they were engaging in small talk, but he would appreciate if the officers explained what they wanted. One detective told him it was because of what had happened in Moscow. Asked if he knew what had transpired, he replied, 'Of course.' Did he want to talk about it? 'Well, I think I would need a lawyer,' Kohberger replied. He continued speaking, though — asking what specific questions they had and asking if his parents and dog were OK following his arrest. Kohberger finally said he would like to speak to an attorney, and police ended the interview because he had invoked his Fifth Amendment right. Behind bars with Kohberger A man incarcerated at the Latah County Jail who was once housed next to Kohberger's cell told a detective Sept. 16, 2024, that Kohberger would often question him about his past criminal offenses and why he was in the maximum security wing of the facility. The man said Kohberger's habits annoyed him, including how he washed his hands dozens of times each day and spent 45 minutes to an hour in the shower. He said Kohberger stayed awake almost all night and would only take a nap during the day. ___ Johnson reported from Seattle. Hallie Golden, Audrey McAvoy, Martha Bellisle, Mark Thiessen and Jesse Bedayn contributed.

Trump to visit Fed on Thursday, ramping up pressure on Powell
Trump to visit Fed on Thursday, ramping up pressure on Powell

Reuters

time17 minutes ago

  • Reuters

Trump to visit Fed on Thursday, ramping up pressure on Powell

July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, a robust critic of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, will visit the central bank on Thursday, the White House said, a surprise move that escalates tension between the central bank and the administration. Trump has lambasted Powell repeatedly for not cutting U.S. interest rates more aggressively, calling him a "numbskull" on Tuesday and musing publicly about firing him. The Republican president nominated Powell to be Fed chair during his first term but has soured on his pick over disagreements about interest rates and the economy. Between Trump's stints in office, Democratic President Joe Biden nominated Powell for a second term. Adding fuel to Trump's ire, White House officials have accused the Fed of mismanaging the renovation of two historic buildings in Washington, D.C., suggesting poor oversight and potential fraud. White House deputy chief of staff James Blair said this week that administration officials would be visiting the Fed on Thursday but did not say the president would join. In a schedule released to the media on Wednesday night, the White House said Trump would visit the Federal Reserve at 4 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday. It did not say whether Trump would be meeting with Powell. A Federal Reserve official did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Initial market reaction was subdued, with the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds steady at 4.387% in Asian hours and the dollar weakening slightly. Trump's public criticism of Powell and flirtation with firing him have previously upset financial markets and threatened a key underpinning of the global financial system - that central banks are independent and free from political meddling. Typically U.S. presidents refrain from commenting on Fed policy altogether in deference to the bank's autonomy, but Trump, whose governing style blasts through political norms, has not followed that example. Since returning to office in January, Trump has attacked institutions from law firms to universities to media organizations in an effort to reshape U.S. society in line with his vision. He has used the same verbal sledgehammer against the Fed, pressuring Powell to cut rates and blaming him for not stimulating the economy further. Trump has said he would like the Fed to cut its benchmark interest rate as low as 1% from the current 4.25%-4.50% target range to reduce government borrowing costs. This would allow the administration to finance rising deficits expected from his spending and tax-cut bill. But a Fed policy rate that low is typically a sign of a country in economic trouble.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store