Florida is now accepting immigrant detainees at a repurposed prison in Baker County as part of the state’s support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office.
The use of Baker Correctional Institution, which the state mothballed as a prison four years ago because of staffing shortages, coincided with a federal appellate court ruling Thursday allowing authorities to resume sending detainees to a remote facility in the Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by state officials.
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According to the governor’s office, the Baker County facility opened Sept. 2 and had more than 100 detainees as of Friday. It can house up to 1,500 people.
A three-judge panel of 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday put on hold a ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams that required the wind-down of operations at the controversial Everglades detention center.
The Atlanta-based court’s ruling blocked a preliminary injunction issued last month by Williams and allowed authorities to resume sending detainees to the remote complex.
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The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity alleging that officials failed to comply with a federal law requiring an environmental impact study be conducted before construction on the site could begin.
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida also joined the lawsuit.
The Everglades facility is “back open for business,” state Attorney General James Uthmeier told Fox News on Friday. “No Limits. We will fill it up with thousands of detainees, and we will get these criminal aliens back where they came from,” he said.
