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OCHOPEE, Fla. — <\/span>Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that the immigration detention center known as \u201c Alligator Alcatraz<\/a> \u201d always was meant to be temporary.<\/p>\n His comments came on the same day that The New York Times reported state and federal officials were in early talks about shutting down the facility in the Florida Everglades that DeSantis said has processed and deported 22,000 detainees since it opened last summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAt some point, we will, of course, break it down. That was always the goal,\u201d the Republican governor said at a news conference in Lakeland.<\/p>\n If the Department of Homeland Security feels it has the resources to house detainees elsewhere, the facility will wind down, DeSantis said.<\/p>\n DHS officials have not said they want the facility to close, though the idea has been discussed since the department got a new secretary, Markwayne Mullin<\/a>, in late March, and \u201cyou take a fresh look at these things,\u201d the governor added.<\/p>\n