Particle.news
Download on the App Store
38 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

Florida Unveils 'Deportation Depot' as Judge Halts Everglades Expansion

DeSantis plans to convert the shuttered Baker Correctional Institution within weeks with National Guard staffing under a $6 million build-out estimate.

Image
FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference about a recent immigration enforcement operation, at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, file)
Image
This undated image provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows signage for the Baker Correctional Institution, a state prison about 43 miles west of downtown Jacksonville, Florida.

Overview

  • U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a two-week pause on further construction at the tented Everglades site amid environmental hearings over NEPA and Endangered Species Act claims
  • Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the Baker Correctional Institution will reopen as 'Deportation Depot' with 1,300 beds scalable to 2,000 for migrant processing and deportation
  • Florida projects a $6 million renovation and expects the new facility to be operational in two to three weeks using National Guard personnel and state contractors
  • Civil-rights lawyers have filed suit alleging detainees at the Everglades camp face unsanitary conditions, mosquitos, broken facilities, COVID-19 exposure risks and restricted confidential counsel
  • State and federal attorneys argue the Everglades center is under Florida’s authority and exempt from federal environmental review despite a judge’s finding it involves at least a joint federal-state partnership