TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Alligator Alcatraz may have been the state’s first immigration detention center, but Gov. Ron DeSantis says there are new plans to open a facility in the Panhandle.
“We’re in the process of understanding how to actually set up a Panhandle Porky,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Orlando on Tuesday.
Top Florida officials say “Alligator Alcatraz” is likely to be empty within days, email show
With South Florida and the East Coast covered, what the governor calls the “Panhandle Porky” is the state’s latest detention facility for illegally retaining and deporting immigrants in the country.
“You’re in the Panhandle that sends to Crocodile Alcatraz. It’s a long way to go,” DeSantis said. “Sent to a deportation depot in northern Florida could be three to five hours, depending on where the Panhandle is.”
The announcement comes as Wannial Catraz continues to face fever in court. A federal judge ruled that part of the facility would be suspended and partially demolished.
Democrats inside the Capitol viewed this as a victory and vowed to continue pushing back.
“So, first of all, these childish names are exactly that,” said D-Orlando’s state president Anna Eskamani. “They’re sophomoral. That’s embarrassing. They tease such a serious issue with immigration policy, so all of that is just sad and pathetic. We need to stop it.”
Eskamani, who has been speaking out in his fight against the governor’s efforts, said he will continue to challenge any possible facilities that appear throughout the state.
“A lot of them will be prisons in the previous state, so we intend to visit these facilities and oversee how they operate, how they are managed, who will get the contract, and of course, what the environment is like for detainees,” Eskamani said.
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Desantis added that the state is complying with court rulings but is fighting back by doubling immigration enforcement.
“I think we’ll win that fight,” he said.
DeSantis said Deportation Depot, the state’s second immigration center in Baker County near Jacksonville, will open “quite soon.”
