STARKE, Fla. — Questions surrounding the planned ICE detention facility at Camp Blanding are largely going unanswered, as the planned construction start date seems to have been delayed.
Last week, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie told Action News Jax that construction of the planned ICE detention facility at Camp Blanding was just around the corner.
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“I would say right after our wonderful Independence Day, we will be starting construction there at that facility,” Guthrie said.
But ten days later, the National Guard base showed no signs of construction.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Action News Jax the agency was still in the process of selecting vendors as of Monday.
“So, eventually, I think vendors will be selected and then at that point we’ll be able to do. Now, we’re also going to see what the demand signal for this is,” DeSantis said.
The state’s procurement website doesn’t seem to list any request for proposals (RFPs) matching the Camp Blanding project and our efforts to get answers directly from FDEM have been mostly met with silence.
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We’ve asked for a copy of any related RFPs issued by the agency, a list of any vendors that have applied for the project, the estimated start date of the project, and the projected cost of the project.
So far, FDEM has not provided responses, though it has acknowledged the receipt of our records requests.
State Rep. Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville) has been raising the alarm about Alligator Alcatraz and the planned sister detention center at Camp Blanding.
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“They’re gonna cut corners. They’re not going to feed the folks right. It’s probably gonna flood. It’s probably just going to be a tent that they just throw up,” Nixon said.
She argued the media aren’t the only ones having a difficult time getting information about the state-built immigration detention centers.
“They ignore state legislators. They lie to state legislators. They hang up on state legislators. And so, at the end of the day Ron DeSantis’ administration is going unchecked, but now we’re checking them,” Nixon said.
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