• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announces plans for a second immigration detention facility named "Deportation Depot."
• The new facility will be located at Baker Correctional Institution, capable of holding up to 1,300 detainees.
• The announcement comes after the opening of another facility in the Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz."
• A federal judge has temporarily halted construction at the Everglades facility due to environmental concerns.
• DeSantis claims Florida has the toughest immigration enforcement policies in the U.S.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has announced plans to open a second immigration detention facility, dubbed "Deportation Depot," at the Baker Correctional Institution in north Florida. This facility is intended to accommodate up to 1,300 detainees and can potentially expand to 2,000, as the state seeks to bolster its immigration enforcement capabilities amidst a federal court's ongoing review of the first facility in the Everglades, known as "Alligator Alcatraz," according to latimes, abcnews, scmp, trtglobal, and aa.

The Baker facility announcement follows a month after the Everglades center has proven contentious; DeSantis emphasized that the new site will not hold detainees indefinitely, stating, "We are authorizing and will be soon opening this new illegal immigration detention, processing and deportation facility here in north Florida," during a recent news conference. This facility is part of a broader initiative to enhance the state's immigration management system, which has been touted as the most rigorous in the nation by DeSantis, according to latimes, abcnews, and scmp.

A significant aspect of this development is the federal judge's recent ruling that has temporarily suspended further construction at the Alligator Alcatraz location to protect the sensitive Everglades ecosystem. The state and federal governments still retain the capacity to house detainees there during this pause, which highlights the ongoing tensions between immigration enforcement and environmental protection, according to abcnews, trtglobal, and aa.