BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — Florida's second immigration detention facility, known as "Deportation Depot" at the former Baker County Correctional Institution, is now open and housing detainees, according to the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM).

FDEM confirmed Friday that the facility's first immigrant detainee arrived Tuesday, Sept. 2, and currently there are 117 detainees there, with space for as many as 1,500.

News of the facility opening comes a day after a federal appeals court paused a court order to close Alligator Alcatraz , the state's other immigrant detention facility in South Florida.

The state believes Deportation Depot won't face the same legal challenges, since the facility is at a pre-existing prison.

During a press conference in Sanderson mid-August, DeSan

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