Florida Emergency Fund Spending Shifted Toward Immigration Enforcement

The state's primary emergency disaster fund is currently depleted, with the majority of its recent spending redirected from weather-related disaster response to immigration enforcement operations.

• •The Florida Division of Emergency Management spent $890 million from the emergency fund between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026.
• •Immigration enforcement accounted for $564 million (63%) of the total $890 million spent last fiscal year.
• •Total immigration-related contracts signed by the agency are valued at approximately $1.01 billion.
• •The emergency fund currently has less than $7 million remaining.
• •The agency owes vendors at least $500 million for the construction and operation of detention facilities.
• •Lawmakers approved an additional $250 million for the fund in June, which the agency has not yet requested.
• •The agency missed a mandatory deadline five days ago for a quarterly report on the fund's financial health.
• •Since 2023, the state has spent $573 million on immigration enforcement from the fund, with 98% occurring in the past year.
• •The fund was created in 2022 to allow the Governor to pay for disasters without legislative approval.
• •Immigration spending last year exceeded the costs of individual responses to Hurricane Idalia, Hurricane Debby, Hurricane Nicole, and evacuation flights from Israel and Haiti.