SANDERSON, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference at the so-called Deportation Depot (Baker Correctional Institution) in Sanderson, highlighting the state’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.
In April 2025, Florida joined DHS to launch “Operation Tidal Wave”. On Monday, DeSantis announced the effort had resulted in over 10,000 arrests of illegal aliens.
“Of those, 63% had criminal arrests or convictions, including violent offenders and sex offenders," said DeSantis. “Although you don’t have to have committed a crime to be subject to immigration enforcement if you’ve come illegally, that is the offense."
Last year, Florida passed legislation requiring state and local law enforcement to participate in immigration enforcement and to enter into 287(g) agreements with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The governor discussed the deportation facilities in Sanderson and South Florida. In August, DeSantis announced that the closed institution in Sanderson would be repurposed as a detention center, which he called the “Deportation Depot.”
DeSantis also highlighted voluntary returns, noting that approximately 1,000 people have used Florida’s program to receive plane tickets back to their home countries. Deportation flights from Alligator Alcatraz have been operating since July.
“The tempo has picked up. We now, at each one of those facilities, the federal government has stationed an immigration judge at both Baker and those in Alligator Alcatraz," said DeSantis.
DeSantis was joined by state Attorney General James Uthmeier; Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia; Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Wilton Simpson; State Board of Immigration Enforcement Executive Director Anthony Coker; Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner; Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie; and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass.