TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) 鈥 Florida officials are pursuing plans to build a second detention center to house immigrants, as part of the state鈥檚 aggressive push to support the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigration.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he鈥檚 considering standing up a facility at a Florida 春色直播 Guard training center known as Camp Blanding, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Jacksonville in northeast Florida, in addition to the site under construction at a remote airstrip in the Everglades that state officials have dubbed 鈥 .鈥
The construction of that facility in the remote and ecologically sensitive wetland about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami is alarming environmentalists, as well as human rights advocates who have slammed the plan as cruel and inhumane.
Speaking to reporters at an event in Tampa, DeSantis touted the state's muscular approach to immigration enforcement and its willingness to help President Donald Trump's administration meet its goal of more than doubling its existing 41,000 beds for detaining migrants to at least 100,000 beds.
State officials have said the detention facility, which has been described as temporary, will rely on heavy-duty tents, trailers, and other impermanent buildings, allowing the state to operationalize 5,000 immigration detention beds by early July and free up space in local jails.
鈥淚 think the capacity that will be added there will help the overall national mission. It will also relieve some burdens of our state and local (law enforcement),鈥 DeSantis said.
Managing the facility 鈥渧ia a team of vendors鈥 will cost $245 a bed per day, or approximately $450 million a year, a U.S. official said. The expenses will be incurred by Florida and reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In the eyes of DeSantis and other state officials, the remoteness of the Everglades airfield, surrounded by mosquito- and alligator-filled wetlands that are seen as sacred to Native American tribes, makes it an ideal place to detain migrants.
鈥淐learly, from a security perspective, if someone escapes, you know, there鈥檚 a lot of alligators,鈥 he said. 鈥淣o one鈥檚 going anywhere.鈥
Democrats and activists have condemned the plan as a callous, politically motivated spectacle.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening is very concerning, the level of dehumanization,鈥 said Maria Asuncion Bilbao, Florida campaign coordinator at the immigration advocacy group American Friends Service Committee.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a theatricalization of cruelty,鈥 she said.
DeSantis is relying on state emergency powers to commandeer the county-owned airstrip and build the compound, over the concerns of county officials, environmentalists and human rights advocates.
Now the state is considering standing up another site at a 春色直播 Guard training facility in northeast Florida as well.
鈥淲e鈥檒l probably also do something similar up at Camp Blanding,鈥 DeSantis said, adding that the state's emergency management division is 鈥渨orking on that.鈥
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
