Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans to open a second immigration detention center, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” as a step to expand the state’s capacity to hold and deport undocumented immigrants.
The new facility will be housed at the empty Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, Florida, about 43 miles west of Jacksonville, according to The New York Times.
The expectation is that it will be able to hold more than 1,300 detainees comfortably and could expand to accommodate approximately 2,000 through temporary dormitories.
DeSantis said during a press conference that the location is “ready-made” to house people, noting that the estimated $6 million cost will be much cheaper than many of the other available options.
“This part of the facility is not being used right now for the state prisoners. It just gives us an ability to go in, stand it up quickly, stand it up cheaply,” he explained, per PBS.
Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, is helping to oversee the project and said the expectation is that the site will be operational within the next two to three weeks.
The Florida governor said there will be full processing that takes place at the location, adding that the state is in need of “additional capacity” to hold illegal migrants.
“The reason for this is not just to house people indefinitely. We want to process, stage and then return illegal aliens to their home country,” he said, per Politico.
This new center follows the recent opening of “Alligator Alcatraz,” a detention facility located on a remote airfield in the Florida Everglades that has attracted national attention and legal challenges.
DeSantis emphasized at the press conference that the state has taken aggressive action to secure the border, enforce immigration laws, and remove illegal aliens.
“We’ve been securing the border, enforcing immigration laws and removing illegal aliens who are in our society now, sending them back to their home country,” he added, as reported by ABC News.
“We have done more on this than any other state by a country mile.”