An Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility could be coming to Clay County.
On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis said Florida is offering Camp Blanding as a potential temporary holding site for migrants detained by ICE.
That would be in addition to another detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades.
“We’ll probably also do something similar at Camp Blanding,” DeSantis told reporters, saying the move would ease overcrowding at existing federal detention centers. “We have some capacity there, so Kevin Guthrie, Department of Emergency Management is working on that.”
The site would only be used if approved by federal officials.
Camp Blanding is a state-run National Guard training site roughly 35 miles from downtown St. Augustine.
DeSantis said it has the infrastructure needed to serve as a secure holding center.
The announcement comes after the recent ICE-led “Operation Tidal Wave,” which resulted in more than 1,100 immigration arrests across Florida — the most expansive enforcement action in state history.
To support those efforts, DeSantis said all 67 county sheriffs in Florida and more than 100 state troopers are now participating in a federal program allows local officers to assist with the enforcement of immigration laws.
Established in 1939, more than 800,000 troops trained at the 73,000-acre site during World War II.
DeSantis said an update on the Camp Blanding plan is forthcoming.
