ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is awaiting federal approval to open a third immigration detention center in the Panhandle, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday, adding that the state was also looking into a potential fourth facility in South Florida.
DeSantis said Florida officials were waiting for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to sign off on the third center. He spoke at a news conference outside the state’s second immigration detention center, which AP reported is dubbed “Deportation Depot” and is located at the former Baker Correctional Institution in northeast Florida.
“So, if they approve, we will open,” DeSantis said. “If they don’t, then we will stand by, and that’s fine. But I think it should be approved since I don’t think they’re where they need to be on detention space.”
DeSantis said there was “another option potentially” in South Florida, where state officials have already constructed an immigration detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” at a remote airstrip in the Florida Everglades.
When asked by email about the specific locations of the two potential detention facilities, DeSantis press secretary Molly Best said the Panhandle location would be announced once it was approved by federal officials. “Until this and the proposed additional South Florida location have been approved and finalized, we are unable to provide additional details. Stay tuned!” Best said.
DeSantis also said that during the past year, Florida’s state initiative with federal law enforcement resulted in 10,000 arrests in the state of people in the U.S. illegally. He said local law enforcement made an additional 10,000 arrests, for a total of 20,000 arrests, and that 63% of those arrested under the state initiative had a criminal arrest or conviction.
The AP report said Florida has led other states in constructing facilities to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, with DeSantis describing the Trump administration’s need for additional capacity to hold and deport more immigrants. It added that the Trump administration has trumpeted Republican governors’ efforts to expand detention capacity and called Florida’s partnership a model for other state-run holding facilities.
Attorneys for detainees at the Everglades facility have called the conditions deplorable, writing in court documents that rainwater floods tents and that officers go cell-to-cell pressuring detainees to sign voluntary removal orders before they are allowed to consult their attorneys.
AP reported that three federal lawsuits in Florida are challenging practices at the Everglades facility. In one case, detainees are asking for the facility to be closed, arguing that immigration is a federal issue and that Florida agencies and private contractors hired by the state lack authority under federal law. In a second, detainees are seeking a ruling to ensure access to confidential communications with their attorneys.
In a third lawsuit, AP said a federal judge in Miami last summer ordered the facility to wind down operations over two months because officials had failed to do a review of the detention center’s environmental impact. An appellate court panel put that decision on hold for now, allowing the facility to stay open.
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