BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday morning that a new immigration detention facility he dubbed “Deportation Depot” is coming soon to Baker County.

During a press conference in Sanderson, DeSantis said the demand for more space to hold deportees has been met, which he said is reason for the state’s second immigration detention facility.

In collaboration with federal immigration enforcement, Gov. DeSantis said the goal of the new facility is to speed up deportations from the Sunshine State.

The Baker County Correctional Institution is set to be transformed into the new immigration facility, according to DeSantis. He said it will be able to hold more than 1,300 detainees, but Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said the state has the ability to flex the capacity up to about 2,000 with temporary dorms.

“This is about securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, and removing illegal aliens from our society and sending them back to their home country,” DeSantis said during Thursday’s press conference. He emphasized that the goal is not long-term housing, but rapid staging and removal.

“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,” he added. “That is the name of the game, and that’s what we do in Florida.”

DeSantis said the facility is just “down the road” from Lake City Gateway Airport. He alluded to this being the place where deportation flights could be carried out from “Deportation Depot.”

The governor previously recommended Camp Blanding as a site for an immigration detention facility. DeSantis said he turned to the Baker County Correctional Institution because “a massive part” of the facility is vacant and isn’t being used for “any state correction activity.”

The new site will mirror the state’s “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in South Florida, offering medical care, legal access and recreation yards.

“You talk about ready-made infrastructure, this was something that was very appealing from that perspective because it would require us to do a lot less in standing up than we would at [Camp] Blanding and far less than we had to do at Alligator Alcatraz,” DeSantis said. “In fact, setting up here in Baker, because we have so much existing infrastructure, it’s about a $6 million buildout; that would have been a lot more at Blanding and obviously it was more at Alligator Alcatraz.”

Supporters point to Florida’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies, such as requiring all state and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE and engaging in joint deportation operations.

Critics, however, say the plan is politically motivated and risks harming individuals who have legal status. 

“Meanwhile, people are suffering and hurting, and not only that, but they’re probably going to be treated inhumanely,” State Rep. Angie Nixon said, who accuses the governor of targeting non-criminal immigrants. 

She cited cases like a Springfield coffee shop owner with legal status who was detained, saying, “This is not fun and games. At the end of the day, these are people’s lives.”

DeSantis further explained that he recommended an immigration detention facility at Camp Blanding due to its proximity to Cecil Field, which has a runway that can play host to deportation flights, “but probably [is] not a big enough runway to handle large planes.”

DeSantis said his goal is to get “Deportation Depot” up and running within a few weeks.