The immigrant detention facility opens in addition to Alligator Alcatraz, which re-opened this week after the state challenged a court order to close the facility.
BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — Florida’s second immigration detention facility, known as “Deportation Depot” at the former Baker County Correctional Institution, is now open and housing detainees, according to the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM).
FDEM confirmed Friday that the facility’s first immigrant detainee arrived Tuesday, Sept. 2, and currently there are 117 detainees there, with space for as many as 1,500.
News of the facility opening comes a day after a federal appeals court paused a court order to close Alligator Alcatraz, the state’s other immigrant detention facility in South Florida.
The state believes Deportation Depot won’t face the same legal challenges, since the facility is at a pre-existing prison.
During a press conference in Sanderson mid-August, DeSantis said the demand for more space to hold deportees has been met, which he said is reason for the state’s second immigration detention facility.
In collaboration with federal immigration enforcement, DeSantis said the goal of the new facility is to speed up deportations from the Sunshine State.
The Baker County Correctional Institution was transformed into the new immigration facility, according to DeSantis. He said at the time it will be able to hold more than 1,300 detainees, but Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said the state has the ability to flex the capacity up to about 2,000 with temporary dorms.
“This is about securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, removing illegal aliens from our society and sending them back to their home country,” DeSantis said during the August press conference. He emphasized that the goal is not long-term housing, but rapid staging and removal.
“The reason of this is not to just house people indefinitely, we want to process, stage and then return illegal aliens to their home country,” he said. “That is the name of the game, and that’s what we do in Florida.”
DeSantis said the facility is just “down the road” from Lake City Gateway Airport. He alluded to this being the place where deportation flights could be carried out from “Deportation Depot.”
The governor previously recommended Camp Blanding as a site for an immigration detention facility. DeSantis said he turned to the Baker County Correctional Institution because “a massive part” of the facility is vacant and isn’t being used for “any state correction activity.”
The new site mirrors the state’s “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in South Florida, offering medical care, legal access and recreation yards.