In a matter of days, an isolated training airport in the Everglades where endangered Florida panthers roam became a sprawling immigration center christened "Alligator Alcatraz,” modeled after the state’s frequent responses to hurricanes and built in part by companies whose owners have donated generously to Republicans.

A federal court filing casts doubt on the Trump administration’s claims that the federal government would pick up the tab for “Alligator Alcatraz.”