OCHOPEE, Fla. — The newest in what may become multiple ICE immigrant detention centers is facing minor flooding problems the day after it opened.
Newsweek says a storm caused about an inch and a half of rain to fall on the detention center location in Florida’s Everglades, according to estimates from the National Weather Service in Miami. Video shared there shows water seeping into the site and onto electrical cables on the floors.
The facility was built in only eight days across a ten-mile stretch of the Everglades. It features over 200 security cameras, 28,000 feet of barbed wire, and 400 security personnel.
The first group of immigrants was scheduled to arrive at the new detention center Wednesday night according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. Officials say the detainees were brought in on buses, though it was not made immediately clear precisely when they arrived or where they came from.
The establishment of another immigrant internment camp appears inevitable, as construction at Clay County’s Camp Blanding in Starke, Florida is promised to start after Independence Day. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says the state is moving forward with a second makeshift detention center at the National Guard training facility.
Bids for companies interested in building the Camp Blanding site closed as of 5:00pm on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
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