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DeSantis Plans Second Migrant Detention Center in Florida Despite Construction Halt

DeSantis said Baker Correctional Institute would open with 1,300 beds expandable to 2,000 following a court-ordered pause at the Everglades detention site.

Overview

  • Florida officials selected the unused Baker Correctional Institute near Jacksonville to detain migrants lacking valid residence permits ahead of their deportation.
  • A federal injunction paused further expansion at the Everglades Dade-Collier Airfield facility while Judge Kathleen Williams reviews environmental compliance.
  • The original Everglades camp remains open under ICE operations with deportation flights already underway and much of its funding supplied by FEMA.
  • Conservation groups and the Miccosukee Tribe sued under environmental and tribal-rights statutes, alleging construction violated protections for the Everglades ecosystem.
  • Detainee advocates report overcrowding, sanitation failures and hunger strikes at the swamp camp, allegations that DHS and ICE have disputed.