Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that his administration is researching a third immigrant detention facility, this one in West Florida.
The state-run deportation facilities existing in the Everglades and planned for Baker County are a long distance from the western-most part of Florida, the governor said.
“There’s a demand to have way more than just Alligator Alcatraz,” DeSantis said, and that immigration law enforcement efforts in the Panhandle recently showed how far away detainees must be transported.
The first deportation facility, in the Everglades, opened earlier this summer, must be shut down, a federal judge ruled, although the state is fighting that ruling.
Meanwhile, the state will open another deportation facility in Baker County “soon,” which the governor’s office has dubbed “Deportation Depot.”
Inspired by conversations with law enforcement officials in Panama City, “We’re actually in the process of figuring out how we can set up a Panhandle Pokey,” DeSantis said, continuing an alliterative theme.
“You know, you’re in the Panhandle sending to Alligator Alcatraz, that’s a long way. Even sending to the Deportation Depot in North Florida, that could be three to five hours depending on where you are in the Panhandle,” DeSantis said.
Everglades facility
Although the Everglades facility has stopped accepting new detainees due to the court ruling, DeSantis said, “We’re ultimately going to win that fight.”
Critics point to the money the state spent on the facility only for it to possibly shut down. “We spent money and we will get reimbursed,” DeSantis said.
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This article appears in Sept. 3-9, 2025.