Fresh off a court victory ordering the “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention center to remain open, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that Baker County’s “Deportation Depot” is in operation.
“Deportation Depot,” a DeSantis-coined moniker, occupies the old Baker County Correctional Facility north of Gainesville. The center can hold up to 2,000 people and opened Tuesday, the governor’s office confirmed to The Florida Phoenix.
It’s “receiving” migrants as of Friday.
“We’re not only doing Alligator Alcatraz, we’ve now opened the Deportation Depot up in Northeast Florida, and we’re working on opening a Panhandle Pokey in northwest Florida,” DeSantis said Thursday night on FOX News.
The announcement came hours after a federal appeals court sided with DeSantis by pausing a lower j