It's understandable if one assumes the next big immigrant detention site in the United States will be in Florida.
After all, Florida kicked off the idea by throwing together the controversial "Alligator Alcatraz" site in the Everglades in a matter of weeks with a second one on the way. And the next location was nicknamed the "Speedway Slammer," a natural name for a state boasting the Daytona 500.
However, the new site is planned for Indiana, home of the Indy 500.
It doesn't help the confusion that the new site will be in the Miami Correctional Facility. In Miami County, Indiana.
Meanwhile, Florida is planning its next site, dubbed "Deportation Depot," and on Aug. 19 Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced plans to convert part of a minimum security state prison into an immigrant detention facility nicknamed the "Cornhusker Clink."
Critics have claimed the sites are unsanitary and cruel, that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have swept up immigrants without criminal records and U.S. citizens in their arrests, and that detainees have been denied their civil rights and due process before being deported. The Department of Homeland Security has denied these claims. A lawsuit focusing on plaintiffs legal and civil rights, including lack of access to attorneys, is working its way through the courts.
Another lawsuit, regarding the envirionmental impact and the state's failure to have a federally required impact investigation done, has had more immediate success. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Aug. 7 stopped further construction at the initial South Florida site for two weeks while that lawsuit continues. On Aug. 21, she said state and federal government should pack everything up and prepare to shut down Alligator Alcatraz. DeSantis has said that deportations will continue.
Here's what to know about the new Indiana site, dubbed the “Speedway Slammer.”
What is the Speedway Slammer?
Similar to the South Florida Detention Facility, nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" by its creator, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, the "Speedway Slammer" will house 1,000 beds for undocumented immigrants detained by ICE officials or local law enforcement.
"The Speedway Slammer will house some of the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens arrested by ICE," the Department of Homeland Security said in an Aug. 5 release.
However, a July report by The Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times showed that at least 250 of the people held at the South Florida site had no criminal convictions or pending charges in the U.S.
Immigration detention and deportation has ramped up dramatically nationwide and in Florida under orders from President Donald Trump, aided by massive budgets for DHS and ICE and 287(g) agreements Gov. Ron DeSantis required all Florida police agencies to sign that deputize state and local law enforcement to arrest people they suspect of being in the country illegally.
Where is the Speedway Slammer?
The detention space will be added to the Miami Correctional Facility on the former Grissom Air Force Base, 3038 W 850 S in Bunker Hill about 70 miles north of Indianapolis.
DHS uses Indy car imagery to promote immigrant detention
"If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana’s Speedway Slammer," Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem said in an Aug. 5 post on X. "Avoid arrest and self deport now using the CBP Home App."
The DHS followed with a post featuring a computer-generated image of an Indy car with ICE branding parked in front of a detention center. The car sported a No. 5, which is used by fan-favorite Pato O’Ward, the Indy series’ only Mexican driver.
Penske Entertainment, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said it was caught off-guard and asked that "our IP not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.”
A DHS spokesperson told The IndyStar on Aug. 6 that intellectual property rights on a car was "absurd" and that "DHS will continue promoting the ‘Speedway Slammer’ as a comprehensive and collaborative approach to combatting illegal immigration.”
The post with the picture was deleted, however. On Aug. 8, the DHS posted another image of ICE-branded Indy cars without the number.
Where is the next Florida detention site planned? What is the Deportation Depot?
DeSantis announced the state's second detention site, nicknamed "Deportation Depot," would open at Baker Correctional Institution, a facility in Sanderson closed due to staffing shortages.
Previously, Camp Blanding in Clay County, Florida, was planned, but the governor said the Baker CI facility would be cheaper and only cost about $6 million to get it "up and running."
As with "Alligator Alcatraz" and the gator-themed merchandise offered for sale, the Republican Party of Florida promoted deportation-themed shirts, hats and other merch with a logo similar to Home Depot's until the home improvement chain objected. The items were removed Aug. 23, Fox Business reported.
What is Cornhusker Clink?
On Aug. 19, the governor of Nebraska announced an expansion of detention bed space, up to 280 beds, inside the Work Ethic Camp, a minimum security state prison in the small town of McCook.
“I’m grateful for President Trump to say, ‘It is important that we find the criminals, the bad people and remove them,” Pillen said at a press conference. “And so we’re on the team.”
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Where is Speedway Slammer? ICE detention site is not in Florida
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