Tallahassee

As a federal judge weighs whether to temporarily shut down Alligator Alcatraz, the DeSantis administration is making plans to turn a vacant North Florida prison into an immigration detention center for more than 1,000 people.

“We are calling this the deportation depot,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday. “This will be operational soon. It is not going to take forever, but we are also not rushing to do this right this day.”

The governor framed the move as an effort to meet the need for “additional capacity” beyond what’s available at Alligator Alcatraz. But as of Thursday, the Everglades facility held roughly 600 people — far below the approximately 1,400 detainees held at the site at the beginning of the month, sources said.

The move suggests the administ

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