Immigrant rights advocates plan protest against construction of detention facility at Camp Blanding

CAMP BLANDING, Fla. – The plan to build an immigration detention facility at Camp Blanding in Clay County is meeting with community pushback on the heels of the opening of Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida Everglades.

The Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance (JIRA) is planning a news conference at 4:30 p.m. Friday outside the Federal Courthouse downtown to speak out against the Camp Blanding facility.

The group also plans a protest outside Camp Blanding at 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 19.

Camp Blanding currently serves as a Florida National Guard training base and will have to undergo “improvements” to function as a detention facility for ICE.

The state has not disclosed how much those improvements will cost, but Alligator Alcatraz, which will hold around 3,000 detainees, is expected to cost about $450 million a year.

The Camp Blanding facility would hold around 2,000 detainees, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, although it’s unclear how quickly it might open.

The state is currently working on approving vendors for the improvements, which include:

• Food service support: The facility needs to be able to accommodate four meals a day, two of which must be served hot, for 1,000 individuals and support staff. In addition, for a workable facility that meets federal standards, each block needs to have a kitchen with a dining area. A schedule would be created on when each block is being fed, according to the document outlining the plan.
• Specific building facilities:
  • Medical facility: The detention site would need a full medical facility to support up to 1,000 people with periodic health checks and food inspections. This area must also have a pharmacy. According to the plan, existing structures may be able to be used, but they need medical equipment and personnel to be deemed functional.
  • Barber operations: Depending on how the site is separated for each of the required facilities and areas (such as separating women and men), a building needs to be in place to provide barber operations.
  • Behavioral health facility: According to the plan, Camp Blanding’s current facilities do not have showers and bathrooms to support detainees with disabilities. Therefore, there needs to be construction or a provided facility that adheres to detainees with disabilities.
  • Storage of personal property: A facility that can house and secure appropriate safes/storage for transfer of funds, valuables, and personal property may be provided, depending on how the footprint of buildings/facilities are split up. The plan says that if a building can be provided, personnel and equipment will be requested to be fully operational.
• Contractual requirements:
  • Laundry: The site already has a facility that can be used for laundry. However, a linen contract would need to be placed for items. According to the plan, detainees are required one pillow, one blanket, one towel, two sheets and one pillowcase.
  • Contraband detection: The plan states K-9s may be used for contraband detection, but not in the presence of detainees. The site would need a contract for support with local law enforcement for K-9 units.
  • Garbage collection: A contract for garbage and refuse to include medical/biohazard waste will be needed to be fully operational.

Activists argue the plans are moving forward without enough public input or oversight.

Alligator Alcatraz

Those concerns come as five Florida lawmakers, including Jacksonville State Rep. Angie Nixon, are suing the state after they say they were illegally blocked from inspecting the Alligator Alcatraz site earlier this month.

Under Florida law, legislators are allowed to conduct unannounced visits to detention facilities. However, Nixon and others were turned away at the gate.

“We saw water rising. In addition to that, we literally saw alligators out there,” Nixon said. “It was hot, the sun was sweltering, and they would not let us in.”

State officials now say the lawmakers have been invited for a tour scheduled for Friday, claiming the facility was previously “unsanitized” and not ready for visitors.

RELATED: 1 week after being denied access, local state rep gets invite to tour Alligator Alcatraz amid reports of poor conditions

In a video posted to her social media accounts, Nixon confirmed she was invited by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which will host the tour for an hour and a half on Saturday, July 12, exclusively for Florida state legislators and members of Congress.

In response to criticism, DeSantis defended the operation during an appearance on Fox News.

“What we’re not going to do is provide them with a platform to virtue signal or have some politicized photo opp,” DeSantis said. “If they want to see, they will see there are professional folks running this.”

Alligator Alcatraz was built in eight days over 10 miles of the Everglades, and reportedly contains the following features:

• More than 200 security cameras
• 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire
• 400 security personnel

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier came up with the idea of building the detention center in its current location. He is also responsible for coming up with its irregular name.

“If somebody were to get out, there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, only the alligators and pythons are waiting. That’s why I like to call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’” Uthmeier told Fox Business.