Immigration detainees held at Florida’s so-called “Deportation Depot” are facing alleged mistreatment, with advocacy organizations citing reports of inadequate food and neglected medical needs.
SANDERSON, Fla. — Civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups are sounding the alarm over conditions at Baker Correctional Institution, where people detained on immigration-related charges are currently being housed.
According to those organizations, detainees and their relatives have shared firsthand accounts describing troubling treatment inside the facility.
Once operated as a prison, the Baker County facility began holding immigration detainees last year and has since been referred to by Florida officials as the state’s “Deportation Depot.”
Clara Sowers with the Micah Solidarity Project said her organization has heard directly from people inside the facility and their families.
Advocates allege that some detainees have experienced food shortages and problems receiving medical care and necessary accommodations.
READ MORE: Darius Slayton Bids Farewell to Giants as Teams Show Interest
Local and statewide advocacy groups also allege that one detainee who relies on medication to prevent seizures did not receive the medication in time and later suffered a seizure.
First Coast News has not independently confirmed those allegations.
The groups are also calling for answers about a hunger strike they say involved about 50 detainees last month. Sowers said the hunger strike lasted several days and ended Aug. 28.
“We are very concerned for their health and their mental well-being, their physical well-being,” Sowers said.
Eleven organizations, including immigrant rights, faith and civil rights groups, are now calling for greater accountability and transparency regarding conditions at the facility.
Advocates say Baker Correctional was designed as a prison and argue that people being held there should not be subjected to prison-like treatment.
“We can enforce laws the way we would want them enforced with ourselves. Cruelty is not law,” Sowers said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously defended the state’s approach to immigration enforcement and the use of Baker Correctional.
DeSantis has said the facility was selected because it has space for up to 1,300 detainees and is near the Lake City Gateway Airport.
“The reason of this is not to just house people indefinitely. We want to process, stage and then return illegal aliens to their home country,” DeSantis said in 2025.
First Coast News reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sept. 4 regarding reports of a hunger strike. The agency said there was no hunger strike at Baker Correctional at the time.
First Coast News also contacted ICE regarding the allegations of mistreatment and is awaiting a response.