TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — The first immigration detention center in Florida, known as Alligator Alcatraz, set the precedent, and now Gov. Ron DeSantis announces the establishment of another facility in the panhandle.
“We’re actually in the process of figuring out how we can set up a Panhandle Pokey,” said DeSantis at a press conference in Orlando on Tuesday.
While South Florida and the East Coast already have coverage, the governor’s newest plan is “Panhandle Pokey,” aimed at detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants.
“Traveling from the Panhandle to Alligator Alcatraz is quite a journey,” DeSantis commented. “Even the Deportation Depot in north Florida could require a three to five-hour drive, depending on your location in the Panhandle.”
Meanwhile, legal challenges have been posed against Alligator Alcatraz, with a federal judge ordering a suspension of its operations and the removal of certain sections.
Democrats inside of the statehouse took this as a win and vowed to keep pushing back.
“These immature names are exactly that: immature,” stated State Representative Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. “They’re childish, humiliating, and trivialize a critical immigration issue. This behavior is just disappointing and should cease.”
Eskamani, a staunch opponent of the governor’s initiatives, pledged to rigorously oppose any new detention centers that arise across Florida.
“Since many of them are gonna be former state prisons, we have every intention of visiting these facilities and conducting oversight over how they are run, how they’re managed, who gets the contracts, and of course, what the environment is like for detainees,” Eskamani said.
DeSantis added that the state is complying with the court’s ruling but is striking back, doubling down on immigration enforcement.
“I do think we’re going to win that fight,” he said.
DeSantis said “Deportation Depot,” the state’s second immigration center located in Baker County near Jacksonville, will be opening “pretty soon.”
