Florida GOP Quietly Deletes Deportation Depot Merch Days After Launch

After broadcasting the sale of Home Depot-inspired merchandise for Governor Ron DeSantis' newest deportation facility, dubbed Deportation Depot, the Florida GOP has quietly removed all related shirts, hats, and mugs.

The move comes after Home Depot representatives told New Times that the company didn't authorize Florida GOP officials to use its likeness for merchandise. The Florida GOP has since taken down all Deportation Depot-related products from its store, which still features Alligator Alcatraz shirts released last month.

On Friday, the Florida GOP released a line of "The Deport Depot" merch using Home Depot's signature orange branding and logo, including T-shirts, trucker hats, coffee mugs, and drink coolers.  "DEPORT DEPOT - Where Florida gets more done!" the Florida GOP wrote in a now-deleted post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "We won't back down to the radical left. Stand with @realDonaldTrump and @GovRonDeSantis and take a stand."

It will, however, back down to a hardware giant worth about $395 billion. A Home Depot spokesperson previously told New Times the company did not authorize the Florida GOP to use Home Depot branding, though Home Depot representatives haven't returned requests for comment on this story.

Florida GOP removed the merchandise on Saturday, according to the Miami Herald. Florida GOP officials didn't return requests for comment. The company was already ensconced in the deportation discussion, with Home Depot locations nationwide being the de facto day-laborer pickup spot. In mid-June, The Guardian reported on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Home Depot parking lots around Los Angeles. "At Home Depot, Ice raids terrorize the workers who helped build LA: ‘They just come and grab you’," the headline reads.

Bernard "Bernie" Marcus, the billionaire Home Depot cofounder, was an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump before he died in November 2024. He donated millions to Republican candidates, including Trump, to back his presidential campaigns.

The new Deportation Depot immigration facility is set to open at the site of the former Baker County Correctional Institution, a state prison that closed in 2021 amid staffing shortages. The state plans to hold more than 1,300 detainees at the facility, which is located between Tallahassee and Jacksonville.

"We are calling this the Deportation Depot," DeSantis said at his press conference on Thursday. "This will be operational soon; it is not going to take forever, but we are also not rushing to do this right this day."

Yet, President Trump's very own "Border Czar" Tom Homan doesn't like the nicknames that have been used for immigration detention centers around the country.

"I mean, the men and women in [the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)], what they're doing out there every day is dangerous, it's serious," he said. "They're doing it with dignity, honor, and respect, and I think sometimes those names take away from that."