DeSantis says Florida's looking into third immigrant detention facility 'Panhandle Pokey'
'There’s a demand to have way more than just Alligator Alcatraz,' he said
By Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix on Tue, Sep 2, 2025 at 3:12 pm
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that his administration is researching a third immigrant detention facility, this one in West Florida.
The state-run deportation facilities existing in the Everglades and planned for Baker County are a long distance from the western-most part of Florida, the governor said.
“There’s a demand to have way more than just Alligator Alcatraz,” DeSantis said, and that immigration law enforcement efforts in the Panhandle recently showed how far away detainees must be transported.
The first deportation facility, in the Everglades, opened earlier this summer, must be shut down, a federal judge ruled, although the state is fighting that ruling.
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/desantis-says-floridas-looking-into-third-immigrant-detention-facility-panhandle-pokey-40322019
