The Florida Gov. said the detention facility will be housed at the Baker Correctional Institution, about 43 miles west of Jacksonville.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ administration is moving forward with plans to open a second immigration detention center—this one dubbed the „Deportation Depot“—at a state prison in north Florida. The announcement comes as a federal judge weighs the future of the state’s first such facility, a controversial holding center for immigrants at an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades, known as „Alligator Alcatraz.“
On Thursday, DeSantis announced that the new detention facility will be housed at the Baker Correctional Institution, located about 43 miles west of downtown Jacksonville. State officials said the site is expected to hold 1,300 immigration detention beds, with the potential to expand capacity to as many as 2,000.
The governor argued that the expansion is necessary to meet the needs of the federal government under President Donald Trump’s administration. „There is a demand for this“, DeSantis said. „I’m confident that it will be filled.“
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has praised Republican-led efforts to increase immigration detention capacity nationwide, describing Florida’s partnership as a potential model for other state-run facilities.
DeSantis emphasized that repurposing an existing state prison offers significant savings compared to building from scratch. He estimated the build-out cost for the Baker site at $6 million—far less than the hundreds of millions of dollars the state has committed to the sprawling network of tents and trailers at the Everglades facility.
