TALLAHASSEE — The DeSantis administration is making arrangements to hold immigrant detainees at a North Florida prison as a federal judge weighs whether to temporarily shut down Alligator Alcatraz, the makeshift immigration detention camp in the Everglades.
“We are calling this the deportation depot,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference on Thursday. “This will be operational soon, it is not going to take forever, but we are also not rushing to do this right this day.”
DeSantis said the prison, which is located in a rural area between Tallahassee and Jacksonville, is being opened for immigration detention purposes because the state needs “additional capacity beyond what we are doing in South Florida.” The plans are to hold up to 1,300 immigrant detainees at Baker Correctional Institution, which has been vacant for several years after it was closed down in 2021 as the state grappled with severe staff shortages.
The decision comes a week after a federal judge in Miami ordered the state to stop construction at the Everglades site for two weeks amid a legal battle over the potential environmental impacts. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams is expected to rule no later than Aug. 21 on whether to temporarily shut the site down.
DeSantis had said Alligator Alcatraz would be able to house up to 3,000 immigrant detainees when it was first opened on July 2. The site is currently built to hold about 1,000 people.
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