Days after the state of Florida and federal government engaged in talks to shut down Alligator Alcatraz, officials told vendors the Everglades detention center is closing and detainees are expected to be moved out by early June, according to The New York Times.

The center held about 1,400 detainees and cost more than $1 million a day to operate. According to the report, some private vendors also have not been paid by the state. One contractor said some invoices had been pending for more than six months.

Alligator Alcatraz became one of the country’s most controversial detention facilities in a push to curb immigration. It was built in a matter of weeks last summer with temporary tents.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that any reports that it is pressuring Florida to cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz “are false.” The department also said it continuously evaluates detention needs to meet the latest operational requirements.

The agency in charge of operating Alligator Alcatraz, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, did not respond to questions about the possible relocation of hundreds of detainees. Nor did the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

However, during a news conference in Brevard County on Wednesday, DeSantis said the state’s immigration enforcement efforts save taxpayers money since immigrants in custody can’t use public services.

“Ideally, I wouldn’t want to be involved in this (immigration enforcement) business at all,” he said. “If the federal government … could do that with no state support, all the better.”

The state spent about $600 million on Alligator Alcatraz and is still awaiting federal reimbursement, according to state records. Homeland Security said the requests and contracts are being reviewed to make sure the costs are allowed and valid.

But advocates and experts have questioned those contracts, including one for $92 million with portable toilet company Doodie Calls. The Tampa Bay Times emailed Doodie Calls and four other vendors working with Alligator Alcatraz, but none responded by Wednesday afternoon.

Kathy Castor, one of the group of Florida Democrats in Congress who last year introduced a bill known as the No Cages in the Everglades Act to cut off funding for Alligator Alcatraz, said it has been “a shameful and reckless political stunt.”

Alligator Alcatraz has been criticized over poor conditions and alleged mistreatment of detainees. It’s part of Florida’s broader Immigration Enforcement Operations Plan. A copy of the plan appears to have been removed or is no longer available from the governor’s website.

The state operates a second detention center at Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, dubbed Deportation Depot. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds detainees directly or through agreements with partner agencies.

Juana Lozano, an advocate in Central Florida, said she heard Wednesday that a group of about 100 detainees who were supposedly being relocated this week from Jacksonville to Alligator Alcatraz were still being held there.

Lozano thinks it could be related to the closure of the Everglades detention center.

“It looks like they are taking them to other states,” she said.

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