Is work on center to detain 2,000 immigrants at Camp Blanding starting 'right after' July 4?
Construction at the Camp Blanding, the Florida National Guard's training center in Clay County southwest of Jacksonville, could start in days, a top state administrator said.
'The response [request] for proposals is out,' said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, referencing a government process for seeking bids from contractors. '... It closes Wednesday at 5 o'clock. Then we will do notice to proceed. So, I would say right after our wonderful Independence Day, we will be starting construction there at that facility.'
DeSantis touted the detainee centers at both ends of his state as evidence that Florida is committed to achieving Trump's vision of mass deportation.
More: Tribal nations band together to denounce 'Alligator Alcatraz' on Florida ancestral homelands
'We're all in on this because we understand how important it is to our citizens,' the governor said. Noting the South Florida camp's siting on a dormant airfield surrounded by the Everglades, DeSantis remarked elsewhere that 'our goal here is to process them and be able to effectuate their return to their home country.'
At Camp Blanding, 'we have another big runway there too,' Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier volunteered during a roundtable talk, apparently referring to Camp Blanding Army Airfield.
Asked later about a suggestion of using military reservists as immigration judges to avoid long waits for final decisions on deportations, Trump said DeSantis 'has my approval.'
The South Florida center, built to hold 3,000 immigrants, was described during Trump's visit as being built in eight days with redundant power and aluminum-framed buildings made to handle 110-mph hurricane winds. Wastewater is trucked out for offsite disposal, DeSantis said.
Guthrie described standing up the camp as a dress rehearsal for the kind of urgent work his agency does after natural disasters like hurricanes.
Guthrie didn't specify a timeframe for completing the Camp Blanding facility.
However, his descriptions of facilities created for the South Florida camp, whose capacity is 50% more than what's planned in Clay County, could be instructive for visualizing the facilities likely in Northeast Florida.
'We put staff village here onsite with a capacity of 1,000,' Guthrie said, which would include more than 400 security staff, about 200 of those military.
By comparison, a webpage about Camp Blanding for the VA Loan Network, which serves veterans and military customers, describes the base as having about 1,000 active-duty personnel, about 500 civilian employees and contractors and another 1,000 dependents and family members, for a total community of about 2,500 people.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Camp Blanding detention center will hold 2,000 immigrants, Desantis says
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