Ron DeSantis's aircraft returns to Tallahassee as Alligator Alcatraz closes

Ron DeSantis's aircraft, a Cessna Citation Latitude registered N943FL and operated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, was tracked flying from Brooksville–Tampa Bay Regional Airport to Tallahassee International Airport on June 26, a 34-minute hop that touched down at 12:41 p.m. local time.

If Ron DeSantis was aboard, the timing would align with the winding down of Alligator Alcatraz, the state-run immigration detention center in Ochopee that the governor helped open last year. Per a report from the Miami Herald, contractors began dismantling tents and removing speed bumps this week, and the facility now holds zero detainees. DeSantis held a press conference there on June 25 alongside White House Border Czar Tom Homan, confirming the closure and saying the site would revert to training flights.

The flight from Brooksville — near Tampa — is consistent with the governor's travel pattern this month, which has included stops in Miami, Orlando, and Jacksonville. The aircraft's home base is Tallahassee, and the return to the capital comes as the legislative session's budget negotiations enter their final stretch, with a vote expected by May 29, per the News-Press.