ICE Detention

Baker Correctional Institution (Deportation Depot)

Baker Correctional Institution, the state-run Deportation Depot in Sanderson, Florida: what DHS and ICE records show and how to search for someone held there.

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ICE detainee locator notice (checked October 7, 2026): since September 15, 2026, ICE's Online Detainee Locator no longer shows people who have a final order of removal, and ICE staff have reportedly been told not to give their location to family or lawyers, according to the Associated Press and the American Immigration Council. AP reports the change affects more than 16,000 of the nearly 69,000 people in ICE detention. ICE has not announced or confirmed the change; DHS said all detainees have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Per the AP, the practice does not apply to detainees held at the Adelanto, California facility or at temporary holding facilities in Minneapolis, New York City or suburban Chicago, where judges have ordered ICE to list them in the locator.

If the locator shows no result for someone you know is detained, that does not mean they were released. Contact their attorney, the detention facility, or the ICE field office.

Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, Florida is the site the State of Florida calls the “Deportation Depot.” On August 14, 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida was “opening a new temporary immigration detention facility in North Florida to process, stage, and return” people to their countries of origin, and named Baker Correctional Institution as that site. ICE’s FY2026 detention statistics list it as holding ICE detainees, but ICE publishes no ice.gov facility page for it, so the details below come from the Governor’s office, a DHS Office of Inspector General report and a Florida state directory.

This is not the Baker County Detention Center. ICE’s Baker County Detention Center is a different facility, at 1 Sheriff’s Office Drive in Macclenny, Florida, with its own ICE facility page; the contacts, visiting system and attorney rules that ICE publishes for that facility do not apply to Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson.

What sets this site apart for families: the DHS Office of Inspector General describes it as a state-operated detention facility, not a county jail; the DHS Office of Inspector General reports that ICE’s own records list no contractually obligated detention standards for it and that, as of its September 11, 2026 report, ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight had not inspected it; and as of September 26, 2026, we found no published visiting, deposit, phone or mail rules for the people held there.

Facility quick reference

Item	Detail
Facility name	Baker Correctional Institution (ICE’s name: BAKER CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION); called the “Deportation Depot” by the State of Florida
Operator	State of Florida (the DHS Office of Inspector General calls it “a state-operated detention facility”; the sources we checked do not name the state agency that runs it day to day)
Street address	20706 US Highway 90 West (from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s June 27, 2025 correctional facilities directory, published before the conversion was announced; ICE lists 20706 US 90 W)
City, State, ZIP	Sanderson, FL 32087
Inmate search	None found for immigration detainees as of September 26, 2026 — use the ICE locator
How ICE uses it	ICE lists this as a state facility.
ERO field office	Miami Field Office
ICE detainee locator	locator.ice.gov
Last verified	2026-09-26

ICE detention statistics — fiscal year 2026

963

average daily population (FY2026)

27.8

average days length of stay (FY2026)

ADP = average daily population; ALOS = average length of stay, both FY2026 averages (not a same-day count). Source: ICE Detention Management, FY2026 (released 2026-07-20).

How to find someone held here

Use the ICE locator. The ICE Online Detainee Locator System at locator.ice.gov searches by the person’s A-number and country of birth, or by full name, country of birth and date of birth.
Know what is missing. As of September 26, 2026, we found no state inmate search or roster for people held at Baker for immigration purposes, no published family information line, and no official page that explains how people held here appear in ICE’s locator.
Contact the ICE field office. ICE’s FY2026 statistics place Baker under the ERO Miami area of responsibility; the contact details for that office are on our Miami Field Office page.
Do not rely on the Macclenny contacts. ICE publishes the phone numbers and email on its Baker County Detention Center page for people held at that Macclenny facility; no source we checked says they cover Baker Correctional Institution.

Visiting

As of September 26, 2026, we found no published visiting rules — in person or by video — for people held at Baker Correctional Institution for immigration purposes. We checked the Governor’s August 14, 2025 announcement and ICE’s facility directory; the Florida Department of Corrections page for the institution did not return readable text when we checked it. The Governor’s announcement said only that the site “will be set up with the same services as Alligator Alcatraz.”

Money, phone calls and mail

As of September 26, 2026, we found no published deposit, commissary, phone or mail instructions for people held at Baker for immigration purposes. For how deposits work at ICE facilities in general, see how to send money to someone in ICE detention.

ICE’s page for the Macclenny jail names HomeWAV for non-confidential messages; that is the Macclenny jail’s system, and we found no source tying it to Baker Correctional Institution.

Lawyers and immigration court

Attorney access. As of September 26, 2026, we found no published attorney-visit or legal-mail rules for Baker Correctional Institution.

Immigration court. EOIR’s Immigration Court Administrative Control List (updated September 28, 2026) lists Baker Correctional Institution under the Orlando Immigration Court, 500 N. Orange Avenue, Suite 1100, Orlando, FL 32801, in its block for the “ORLANDO, FL - DHS SUB-OFFICE.” EOIR describes the courts on that list as courts that “may have jurisdiction” over charging documents for people held at the listed facilities, so the court for a particular case can differ. See the Orlando Immigration Court, immigration courts in Florida and BIA-recognized legal help in Florida.

Oversight and inspections

DHS Office of Inspector General, report OIG-26-22 (September 11, 2026). The report is an unannounced inspection of the Florida Soft-Sided Facility (“Alligator Alcatraz”) in Ochopee, not of Baker. In its discussion of ICE’s oversight, the OIG notes that the Ochopee site ceased operations in June 2026 and writes that Baker Correctional Institution “is a state-operated detention facility that continues to operate in Sanderson, Florida.” The OIG reports that:

Baker opened in September 2025 and housed 1,028 detainees as of August 27, 2026.
ICE’s own documentation lists the contractually obligated detention standards for Baker as “N/A” — the same finding the OIG made for the Ochopee site.
Baker “has not been internally inspected by ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight nor was it scheduled for inspection in FY 2026 or FY 2027.”

ICE Office of Detention Oversight index. As of September 26, 2026, ICE’s ODO facility inspections page lists no entry for Baker Correctional Institution or Sanderson; its “Baker County” entries are all for the Macclenny facility.

As of September 26, 2026, we found no DHS Office of Inspector General inspection report on Baker itself, and no ICE detainee-death release naming Baker Correctional Institution or the Deportation Depot (ICE’s detainee death reporting page).

A state-run site, not an ICE contract jail

How ICE classifies it. ICE’s FY2026 detention statistics spreadsheet (released July 20, 2026) lists the contract type as STATE. We found no published agreement document between ICE and the State of Florida for Baker as of September 26, 2026.
What the Governor’s office said. The August 14, 2025 announcement said the Deportation Depot “has the capacity to hold more than 1,300 detainees,” that “Costs will be reimbursed by federal partners,” and that the Lake City Airport, 15 minutes away, made the location “ideal for quickly deporting” people processed there.
Length of stay. ICE’s fiscal year 2026 detention statistics show an average stay here measured in weeks, not days.
Before the conversion. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s correctional facilities directory dated June 27, 2025, published before the announcement, listed Baker Correctional Institution with a warden at the same Sanderson address.

General information, not legal advice. Baker Correctional Institution is operated by the State of Florida, and the details above were checked against the Governor’s office, the DHS Office of Inspector General and ICE’s published pages on September 26, 2026. Conditions and procedures at the site can change at any time. For a specific case, contact a licensed immigration attorney or a BIA-accredited representative.

Frequently asked questions

Is Baker Correctional Institution the same as the Baker County Detention Center?

No. Baker Correctional Institution is the state-operated site in Sanderson, Florida, at 20706 US Highway 90 West, that the State of Florida calls the Deportation Depot. The Baker County Detention Center is a different facility in Macclenny, Florida, at 1 Sheriff’s Office Drive, with its own ICE facility page. The contacts, visiting system and attorney rules that ICE publishes for the Macclenny facility do not apply to Baker Correctional Institution.

Who runs Baker Correctional Institution?

The State of Florida. A DHS Office of Inspector General report dated September 11, 2026 (OIG-26-22) describes Baker as a state-operated detention facility that opened in September 2025, and ICE’s FY2026 detention statistics list it as a state facility. Governor Ron DeSantis announced the site on August 14, 2025. The sources we checked do not name the state agency that runs it day to day.

How do I find someone held at Baker Correctional Institution?

Start with the ICE Online Detainee Locator System at locator.ice.gov, searching by A-number and country of birth, or by name, country of birth and date of birth. As of September 26, 2026, we found no state inmate search and no published family information line for people held at Baker for immigration purposes.

Can I visit or send money to someone at Baker Correctional Institution?

As of September 26, 2026, we found no published visiting, deposit, phone or mail rules for people held at Baker for immigration purposes, from either the State of Florida or ICE. Rules published for the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny belong to that jail, not to Baker Correctional Institution.

Has ICE's Office of Detention Oversight inspected Baker Correctional Institution?

No, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General. Its September 11, 2026 report says Baker has not been internally inspected by ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight and was not scheduled for inspection in FY 2026 or FY 2027, and that ICE’s own documentation lists the contractually obligated detention standards for Baker as N/A.

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General information, not legal advice. MigrantUSA is an independent publisher and is not a law firm; using this site does not create an attorney-client relationship, and this content is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney about your specific situation. US federal, state, and local government procedures, fees, and forms change. Always verify current details directly with the relevant agency before acting. For immigration, tax, or other legal matters specific to your situation, consult a licensed attorney or BIA-accredited representative.