Florida is expanding its immigration enforcement efforts with a new detention center nicknamed the “Deportation Depot.”
Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state will reopen the Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, a facility that has been closed since 2021, to house and process migrants for removal. The site, about 43 miles west of Jacksonville, will start with 1,300 beds but could grow to hold as many as 2,000 detainees.
DeSantis said the move builds on the success of the controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in the Everglades and that the new center should be operational within two to three weeks. It will be staffed by the Florida National Guard and state contractors.
“There’s a massive part here at Baker Correctional that’s vacant and isn’t being used for any state correction activity,” DeSantis said during a press briefing. “This is ready-made infrastructure, and it allows us to get up and running quickly and at a lower cost.”
According to the governor, the state expects to spend about $6 million to prepare the facility—far less than the hundreds of millions already dedicated to the sprawling tent and trailer complex in the Everglades swamp.
The project is part of the Trump administration’s broader push to speed up deportations after what officials describe as a surge of illegal immigration under the Biden administration. DeSantis claimed there are between 50,000 and 100,000 illegal immigrants in Florida who already have final removal orders but have not been deported. The new site will support state law enforcement partnerships with ICE and expand Florida’s 287(g) program, which allows state officers to collaborate directly with federal immigration authorities.
DeSantis also praised recent policy changes by the Trump administration that authorize the Florida Highway Patrol to enforce immigration laws during traffic stops. “We’ve done more on this than any other state by a country mile,” he said. “We will enforce the law, hold the line, and deliver results.”
The governor had previously suggested opening a detention center at Camp Blanding, a Florida National Guard training base, but ultimately decided Baker Correctional was a better option because of its size and proximity to a regional airport.
DeSantis noted that detainees at the new facility will have air-conditioned housing, unlike standard Florida prisons.
The announcement comes as the state faces ongoing scrutiny over conditions at the Alligator Alcatraz site, where detainees and their attorneys have alleged unsafe and inhumane conditions, including exposure to COVID-19 without isolation, flooding, and pressure to sign removal orders prematurely.
Just last week, a Miami federal judge temporarily blocked new construction at the Everglades facility. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled that while the center may continue holding detainees, all expansion efforts—including paving, new infrastructure, and lighting—must stop for at least 14 days while a lawsuit over the project is reviewed.
