Governor Ron DeSantis says Florida is leading the way is leading the way when it comes to immigration enforcement in an effort to assist President Donald Trump’s drive for mass deportations.
Local police can make immigration arrests and detain people for immigration violations under specific agreements.
Florida officials say many local agencies are still waiting for federal training. However, the latest U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests, part of what the agency calls “Operation Tidal Wave,” show how state and local roles may grow.
On Thursday, DeSantis will be joined by officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to tout an operation that authorities say netted about 800 immigration arrests in less than a week. It involved about 80 state troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol and targeted people in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tallahassee, as well as in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, is leading the way in the crackdown on undocumented immigrants,” Bill Smith, president of FHP’s chapter of the Florida Police Benevolent Association, said.
Authorities targeted people who faced final deportation orders and detained others on outstanding arrest warrants for previous offenses, like driving under the influence or without a license, Smith said.
“Florida is leading the nation in active cooperation with the Trump administration for immigration enforcement and deportation operations!” DeSantis said after ICE announced arrests Saturday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke about the operation during a briefing.
“Among those arrested were a Colombian murderer, alleged MS14 and 18th street gang members and a Russian with a red notice for manslaughter. Operation Tidal Wave is a preview of what is to come around the country. A large-scale operation that employs our state and local enforcement partners to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets,” she said.
Some immigrant advocates said most arrests were by local police officers and state highway patrol troopers, not ICE. People were detained during traffic stops or when leaving work. Some had no criminal records and were seeking asylum, or had work permits, advocates said.
One family suddenly torn apart
Jessica Ramírez, general coordinator at the Florida Farm Workers Association, said that most of those arrested were men. In some cases, though not many, ICE officials knocked on the door of immigrants’ houses, she said.
“People are extremely afraid to go out and drive, afraid of the police,” said Ramírez. “The recommendation is to drive carefully, follow the rules, and not give the police a reason to stop them.”
Chica, a 25-year-old Guatemalan woman who asked to be identified only by her first name for fear of being detained, said her partner Fernando, the father of her 3-month-old baby, was detained Friday morning as he was riding in a car with three other immigrants to his construction job. Chica hasn’t heard from him since.
“Honey, the police caught us,” Fernando, a 20-year-old Guatemalan, texted her Friday at 7:47 a.m.
Chica said he had a pending asylum application and a work permit. Police asked the driver of the car to show his license but he did not have one. Officers then detained all four, including Fernando, who came to the U.S alone in 2020.
“I’m really worried. I can’t believe they caught him,” said Chica, who is now considering going back to Guatemala. “I’m afraid they’ll deport him and I’ll be left here without anyone’s help.”
Sheriff calls out federal government
Grady Judd, the sheriff of Polk County in central Florida, called the operation a “drop in the bucket” and voiced frustration with what he called the federal government’s inability to carry out arrests and removals on a larger scale.
“The reason I think that they were focusing on those ready for deportation is there’s no place to put volumes of people,” Judd said. “We’re eager to cooperate with them. But it’s a federal government system and process. And it’s not changing very rapidly.”
