Kate Payne | Associated Press/Report for America

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is preparing to open a second immigration detention facility at a state prison in north Florida, as a federal judge decides the fate of the state's holding center for immigrants at an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."

A video showing officers punching and dragging William McNeil from his car sparked nationwide outrage, but an investigative report released by the State Attorney's Office for the area says the actions of Officer D. Bowers of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office did not constitute a crime.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has tapped Republican state Sen. Jay Collins to be his lieutenant governor. It’s a closely watched appointment by the two-term governor, who can’t run for reelection in 2026. The seat has been vacant since February, when then-lieutenant governor Jeanette Nuñez was appointed to lead one of the state’s public universities.

Two more people were arrested and charged under the law in July, according to a report Florida's attorney general is required to file as punishment for defying the judge's ruling. The state attorney's office dismissed the illegal entry charges against the men, according to the court filing.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is apparently preparing to build a second immigration detention center, awarding at least one contract for what's labeled in state records as the "North Detention Facility."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration has already signed at least $245 million in state contracts to set up and run the new immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades. That's according to a public database that tracks state spending.

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is seeking to join a federal lawsuit aimed at halting the construction of a new immigration detention facility in the Everglades, which tribal members consider their sacred ancestral homelands.

Another former Republican lawmaker and ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis is officially taking the helm of one of Florida’s public universities. Manny Diaz, who DeSantis previously appointed to be his state commissioner of education, started his first day on the job Monday as the interim president of the University of West Florida in Pensacola.

State Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, along with state Reps. Dr. Anna V. Eskamani, D-Orlando, Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, and Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, said they were not allowed to tour the facility off Tamiami Trail in the Everglades when they made a July 3 surprise visit.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a new nearly $115 billion state budget into law. Monday's signing ceremony capped a long and combative legislative season marked by GOP infighting. The budget totals about $4 billion less than the state's current adjusted budget.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is racing ahead with construction of a makeshift immigration detention facility at an airstrip in the Everglades over the opposition of Native American leaders who consider the area their sacred ancestral homelands.

Florida officials are pursuing plans to build a second detention center to house immigrants, as part of the state's aggressive push to support the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigration.