Florida governor says state will open ‘deportation depot’ immigration jail

Ron DeSantis announced move as judge to decide whether to close ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facility in Everglades

Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, said on Thursday that the state will open a second immigration jail, as a federal judge weighs whether to close the controversial existing facility in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz”.

DeSantis painted the forthcoming detention center at the shuttered Baker correctional institution in Sanderson as supplementary to the remote tented camp. He also said the facility would hold up to 1,300 undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation.