Gov. Ron DeSantis isn't worried about Baker County residents opposing his new "Deportation Depot" center for undocumented immigrants.
Why?
Because he won by "Saddam Hussein margins" in the last election.
"I got 90% of the vote in Baker County, so they're probably excited about ['Deportation Depot']. And I think if you look at like these rural counties and look back at that election, you know, we were getting Saddam Hussein margins," he said at an Arcadia press conference Thursday.
"You know Saddam would, like—'You gotta vote for Saddam!' That wasn't us! People just did it," DeSantis added. "They were 90, 88, 92 percent in those counties. So we appreciate it and we're happy to be supportive."
DeSantis referenced his landslide gubernatorial win in 2022, where he squashed Democrat and former Gov. Charlie Crist by nearly 20 points. DeSantis won 10 of Florida's most rural counties with over 80% of the vote.
DeSantis's "Deportation Depot" is only the latest step in Florida's illegal immigration crackdowns. Located at the vacant Baker Correctional Institution, the facility could be accommodated to detain as many as 2,000 people, the governor's office announced last week.
It also follows a slew of strict anti-illegal immigration legislation signed by DeSantis during the 2025 legislative session—including a mandatory death sentence for undocumented migrants convicted of capital crimes—and preceded the governor's efforts to bring an unauthorized migrant who killed three in a traffic accident to Florida to "throw the book at him."
"Deportation Depot"—initially promoted with Home Depot-style merchandise by the Florida GOP until the hardware chain objected—comes on the heels of Alligator Alcatraz, the massive Everglades detention center crafted by Attorney General James Uthmeier.
The 3,000-bed facility garnered national attention, drawing President Donald Trump to the remote South Florida swamp for a GOP-centered grand opening in early July.
Alligator Alcatraz inspired the "Speedway Slammer" in Indiana and—more recently—the "Cornhusker Clink" in Nebraska, both encouraged and created by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Saddam Hussein was the Iraqi dictator for nearly three decades. His regime was responsible for the deaths of thousands, and sparked American involvement in the Middle Eastern nation in the 1990s and early 2000s.
