Detainees pepper-sprayed at Florida immigration detention center
Detainees were pepper-sprayed on at least two occasions at a Florida immigration detention center officials have dubbed the “Deportation Depot,” according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management. The state said the most recent incident occurred on Christmas Eve at the former Baker Correctional Institution in northeast Florida.
In a statement, officials said several detainees refused orders to return to their bunks and began advancing on staff. The Florida Division of Emergency Management said one detainee became violent, striking an officer, and that chemical agents were released to restore safety to detainees and guards.
The confrontation came about two months after an Oct. 29 incident, when officials said detainees attempted to barricade themselves inside their housing unit while inciting violence and causing significant damage. The state said guards eventually used pepper spray to regain control.
Officials said no injuries were reported in either episode. They added that everyone involved was medically cleared in an abundance of caution.
The northeast Florida facility is the second immigration detention center opened by the state of Florida, following “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades, which opened last summer. Florida is awaiting approval from federal officials to open a third immigration detention center in the Florida Panhandle, and officials also said earlier this month that the state was looking into a potential fourth detention facility in South Florida.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously said Florida carried out 10,000 arrests of people in the United States illegally in the state over the past year through a state initiative involving federal law enforcement. DeSantis also said local law enforcement made an additional 10,000 arrests for a total of 20,000 arrests, adding that 63% of those arrested had a criminal arrest or conviction.
Florida has positioned its detention-building efforts as support for President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, with DeSantis saying the administration needs additional capacity to hold and deport more immigrants. The Trump administration has promoted Republican governors’ efforts to expand immigration detention capacity, describing the Florida partnership as a model for other state-run holding facilities.
Attorneys for detainees held at the Everglades facility have called conditions deplorable in court filings. They said rainwater floods tents at the site and that officers go cell-to-cell pressing detainees to sign voluntary removal orders before they’re allowed to consult attorneys. Three federal lawsuits in Florida have challenged practices at the Everglades facility.
In one lawsuit, detainees asked for the facility to be closed on the grounds that immigration is a federal issue and that agencies and private contractors hired by the state lack authority to operate it under federal law. That case ended this month after the immigrant detainee who filed the lawsuit agreed to be deported.
In a second lawsuit, detainees sought a ruling aimed at ensuring confidential communications with their attorneys. In a third case, a federal judge in Miami ordered the Everglades facility to wind down operations after officials failed to conduct a review of the detention center’s environmental impact, though an appellate court panel put that decision on hold while the case continued.