{"id":420155,"date":"2026-10-06T12:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/420155\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T12:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:10:07","slug":"out-of-sight-in-north-florida-life-inside-deportation-depot-mother-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/420155\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of Sight in North Florida: Life Inside Deportation Depot \u2013 Mother Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"Photo<\/p>\n

Mother Jones illustration; Gary McCullough\/AP, Rebecca Blackwell\/AP<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tGet your news from a source that\u2019s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last month, I wrote about a DHS Office of Inspector General report that revealed alarming conditions<\/a> inside Alligator Alcatraz, an immigrant detention center opened last summer in the Everglades that held up to 1,500 people. Among the worst violations was the use of metal cages as \u201ccalming areas\u201d where detainees were often held, the report stated<\/a>. As Corene Kendrick, deputy director at the ACLU\u2019s National Prison Project, told me then, the report \u201creaffirms the cruelty of Alligator Alcatraz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alligator Alcatraz is now closed. But buried deep within the DHS report was a warning about possible similar conditions at the other state-operated immigrant detention center in Florida: the Baker Correctional Institution in northern Florida, nicknamed by Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a> as \u201cDeportation Depot.\u201d The inspectors pointed to the concerns raised in the report, and concluded \u201cICE\u2019s level of oversight and responsibility for immigration detention remain consequential\u2026 Baker has not been internally inspected by ICE\u2019s Office of Detention Oversight, nor was it scheduled for inspection in FY 2026 or FY 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

For months, Alligator Alcatraz<\/a> captured the public\u2019s attention, and it\u2019s easy to understand why. Its name, a punchline for jokes within MAGA circles<\/a>, was unusual. And its optics\u2014with detainees living in fenced areas within large white tents on a little-used airfield in the middle of the Everglades\u2014were vivid and controversial, including a visit by Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and then- DHS secretary Kristi Noem. Because of its proximity to Miami, a melting pot of immigrants, families whose loved ones were detained there could attend and speak out at vigils<\/a> outside the center\u2019s entrance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But shortly after Florida officials opened the Everglades center, they also began operations at the Baker Correctional Institution. Originally a state prison that closed in 2021, the facility is remote and surrounded by forest land. It\u2019s located on a two-lane highway and Jacksonville, which is the closest metro area, is nearly 50 miles away. As of last month, approximately 1,000 detainees were living there; some are elderly, others are legal DACA recipients, and many have pending asylum claims. They are from countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, and Russia. With the closure of Alligator Alcatraz, those who have been detained and their families, not to mention human rights organizations, are sounding bells about conditions inside the center.<\/p>\n

Every month, members of the Micah Solidarity Project, a group of Floridians from different Christian denominations advocating for immigrant rights in northeast Florida, gather on the edge of US Highway 90, next to the facility. The gatherings sometimes attract up to 100 people from all over Florida, including Gainesville, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Tampa. They hold a procession, walking up to the point where the Baker cell blocks are located. They pass around a speakerphone, hoping that those detained inside can hear their prayers and worship music in Spanish.<\/p>\n

Clara Sowers, one of the organizers, said their gatherings have also attracted the attention of the center, which is run by the GEO Group<\/a> and a few other contractors. At one of their larger gatherings in April, the demonstrators saw drones flying over them, and a few sheriff\u2019s office cars circling nearby. That afternoon, they heard a faint whistle coming from the prison. Clara\u2019s husband, she recalls, whistled back. \u201cAll of a sudden, the entire prison erupted in whistles and cheers,\u201d she told me. \u201cThey were so excited to see other humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sowers, a Cuban American from Jacksonville, has recently been in touch with eight Baker detainees. She\u2019s heard of at least two men suffering seizures. She has seen how Alligator Alcatraz had consistently remained in the news as lawmakers, advocates, and detainees\u2019 loved ones called attention to the camp month after month until its closure this summer. She grew up in Miami and thinks a big part of the coverage was the city\u2019s proximity to the Everglades camp. Many Miami families had loved ones sent there. For detainees at Baker, the level of outrage has been less because it\u2019s in a remote area of the state, with fewer immigrant communities in the surrounding cities. \u201cBecause they\u2019re not seeing their family members being detained and missing at the table, they\u2019re just not affected by it,\u201d Sowers told me. \u201cEven when they hear about it, it sounds far away, as far away as Ukraine or the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they\u2019re not seeing their family members being detained and missing at the table, they\u2019re just not affected by it. Even when they hear about it, it sounds far away, as far away as Ukraine or the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the last few weeks, I\u2019ve spoken to eight people\u2014including current detainees, former detainees who were either deported or released, as well as their loved ones\u2014about life inside the Baker facility. They all described the same conditions, including detainees who report delays in medical care, and describe living in cramped dormitories lined with 50 bunk beds for 100 men, small portions of food, and stifling heat due to malfunctioning A\/C units and broken windows. \u201cWe are practically living in our boxers,\u201d one Venezuelan currently at Baker told me over the phone. \u201cThe heat is unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ACLU is also investigating and exploring litigation against the state and the contractors running the facility, said Amy Godshall, a Florida-based attorney for the legal nonprofit. Notably, detainees have reported many of the same obstacles for obtaining legal access that others faced at Alligator Alcatraz, such as delays in scheduling attorney calls, prison staff failing to take detainees to their court appointments, and mail from their attorneys getting lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of what\u2019s happening here is very similar to what was happening in the Everglades facility,\u201d Godshall said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have a commissary set up, so that people can\u2019t buy extra food and are just starving with the insufficient food they\u2019re given.\u201d She added that families had no options for visiting. In the end, she noted, \u201cThe facility is designed to torture people and push them to their breaking point so that they will self-deport.\u201d When I reached out to ICE with questions about the Baker center, a spokesperson referred me to the state of Florida. Officials from the Governor\u2019s Office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which runs Baker, did not respond to my requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Among those with whom I spoke was Jose Andres Urbina, a Venezuelan who arrived at the US-Mexico border in 2022 to seek political asylum. As he awaited the decision on his case, Urbina lived in St. John\u2019s County on the east coast of Florida, where he worked in construction and as an Uber driver. He had a driver\u2019s license, a work permit, and paid federal taxes, he told me. On May 9, 2026, he was parked outside a rock music festival, waiting for potential clients, when a state highway trooper asked for his ID. He then told him that he had a pending immigration hold and arrested him. \u201cThat\u2019s when the torture and the tragedy began,\u201d he told me in Spanish. Over the next several days, he was transferred through several county jails before his family could track him down. \u201cI was basically kidnapped,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facility is designed to torture people and push them to their breaking point so that they will self-deport.\u201d <\/p>\n

Urbina ended up at Baker, where he remained until requesting voluntary departure and being deported back to Venezuela in September. What most troubled him during his time there was the inconsistent meal times. Breakfast, which often was two spoonfuls of scrambled eggs, some bacon, unflavored oatmeal, and fruit cocktail, was served somewhere between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Lunch was usually a sandwich and Lays chips, followed by dinner, which tended to be the better meal of the three. Lunch would sometimes be served at 11 a.m., and dinner at 6 p.m. The men would sneak out leftovers in their pants or socks to eat later in their cells. The portions were so small, Urbina lost 40 pounds during his four months at Baker. Now, he is with his wife, who was also in Florida but chose to move back home to be with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I also spoke to Esther, whose boyfriend is currently detained at Baker. We\u2019re not using her full name, given her immigration status. In 15-minute phone calls over the last six months, she has heard the details of her boyfriend\u2019s detention experience. He recently developed white patches on his skin and hasn\u2019t been able to get medical care. He tells her he drinks lots of water before and after meals so that he stays full longer. Many detainees are on edge, so he tries to avoid other people and plays solitaire to pass the time. \u201cSometimes, they barely have energy to move,\u201d Esther told me. ICE officers have repeatedly offered him the option of voluntary departure, but he has consistently refused. \u201cHe wants to wait here,\u201d Esther said, \u201cand see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

As long as the Baker facility is open, the Micah Solidarity Project will continue to gather outside its walls. \u201cWe\u2019re going back until we\u2019re not needed anymore. This is solidarity,\u201d Sowers said. \u201cPart of that is showing up consistently. Part of that is letting them know they\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mother Jones illustration; Gary McCullough\/AP, Rebecca Blackwell\/AP Get your news from a source that\u2019s not owned and controlled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-420155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}