What we are witnessing, with “Alligator Alcatraz,” is a master class in how “dirty money” works.

As multiple media outlets have reported, several companies involved in the construction and operation of the Everglades detention center have donated to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political action committees. At least two of them have also donated to Attorney General James Uthmeier, a driving force behind the project who’s running for re-election in 2026.

These firms are collectively being paid millions — meaning those campaign contributions were a fantastic investment!

Unfortunately, dirty money usually is.

Among the vendors who just happen to be donors:

• Miami-based CDR Enterprises Inc. and its affiliated companies, CDR Maguire and CDR Health Care Inc. Since 2018 the companies have given political contributions of just under $4 million at the state level, including $500,000 to the “Florida Freedom Fund” — a DeSantis political action committee — earlier this year. The companies have also given well over $1 million to the Republican Party of Florida; and at the federal level, CDR Enterprises in 2023 gave $1 million to Fight Right Inc., a super PAC supporting DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
• SLSCO Ltd., a Texas-based construction company affiliated with John, Todd and William Sullivan. An associated firm, Sullivan Brothers Investments, donated $30,000 to the DeSantis PAC Empower Parents in 2022. In addition, in March William Sullivan gave $3,000 to Uthmeier.
• IRG Global Emergency Management is reportedly a new firm, formed in February, but it’s affiliated with Access Restoration Services US Inc., which in 2022 gave just under $99,980 to DeSantis’ Empower Parents PAC. In March, IRG Global Emergency Management also gave Uthmeier $3,000. Access Restoration Services has given $174,980 to the Republican Party of Florida since 2019.
• Garda World Cash Services is affiliated with GardaWorld, a global security service provider; it gave $5,000 to the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC in 2018, before the committee changed its name to Empower Parents.

We’re certain this only scratches the surface — and we’ll keep digging.

These companies, and the others involved in this project, were reportedly selected from an existing pool of firms vetted and approved by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management. That means the normal procurement process doesn’t apply — the state can just hand out no-bid contracts.

Meanwhile, while DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have said the feds will pick up the $450 million annual tab for the detention center, lawyers for the federal government said something different in response to the lawsuit filed late last month by our friends at Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Florida has received no federal funds, nor has it applied for federal funds related to the temporary detention center,” the response notes.

Until or unless that changes, the money will come from “a massive ‘emergency management’ fund that has been seeded with $2 billion in taxpayer money” which DeSantis “can tap into during any declared state of emergency without any oversight whatsoever from the Legislature,” as investigative journalist Jason Garcia reported on his “Seeking Rents” substack.

What, if any of this, sounds like good government to you?

If you’ve had enough, sign the petition telling DeSantis and Uthmeier to knock it off. 

And support our work so we can keep digging — and equip you with the facts you need to demand better from our elected leaders.