Florida to begin building second detention center
By: Ana Goni-Lessan
USA Today Network - Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Florida - While an immigration detention center know as "alligator Alcatraz" is in the national media spotlight, Florida will start building it second immigration detention center after the holiday weekend. [07/04-06/2025]
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At a round-table with President Donald Trump on July 1 [2025] at the detention center. Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said construction will start "right after our wonderful Independence Day."
..... While touring the Everglades detention center, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters the state is planning to hold another 2,000 detainees at the Camp Blending migrant detention facility, on top of the 3,000 in the original one.
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DeSantis described these sites as a "one-stop shop."
..... "You drive (immigrants) 2,000 feet to the runway, and then they;re gone," he added.
..... Camp Blanding located in Clay County, is a training site for the Florida National Guard. It has an airfield, which the state plans to use to remove detained immigrants to their counties of origin.
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"I love these runways, it's really convenient," Trump said.
..... The Alligator Alcatraz' tour, led by Guthrie, also included Depart3e3mnt of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons and the governor.
..... During a round-table discussion, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Florida, Attorney General James Uthmrier, U.S. Representative Byron Donald and Senator Joe Gruter, R-Sarasota, thanked the president for his hard-line stance on immigration.
..... "We want to fill this place up," Uthmeier told Trump during the president was the :inspiration" for the Everglades detention center, added "hopeful there's more to come."
..... The state has identified "several brick-and-mortare locations" in northeast and south central Florida that could serve as detention centers, according to the state's blueprint' for mass deportation. In May, [2025] officials unveiled a 37-page plan, called the State of Florida Immigration Enforcement Orations Plan, that they say will be the model for immigration enforcement across the country.
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State and federal officials have toured DEM's quick turnaround time for building the detention centers in the Everglades. On July 1, [2025] less than two weeks after its announcement and eight days after construction began, the state let reporters view the air conditioned tents and 1,000 beds ready for detainees.
..... Besides "Alligator Alcatraz" and Camp Blanding, it is unknown where the other detention centers will be located.
..... Camp Blanding has much more infrastructure than the original, which the state says is "self-contained" and entirely reliable on mobile power, water and sewer utilities.
..... Over the past two years, Camp Blanding had revived more than $150 million for improvements to meet National Guard Bureau garrison level II requirements.
..... Currently, the Florida Department of Military Affairs is building a 750-bed , 220,000-square-foot barracks at the training center, said a spokesperson for the Florida National Guard.