TALHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Over the past five months, Florida law enforcement officials have arrested more than 6,000 suspected of being in the country illegally.
The announcement comes as Homeland Security officials declared that they had reimbursed the state nearly $30 million for immigration-related costs, highlighting the importance of Florida in the Trump administration’s crackdown on mass immigration. At an event in Tallahassee on Friday, Madison Xiahan, deputy director of immigration and customs enforcement, praised Florida’s efforts, saying the agency is spending $1.7 billion on state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide.
“We’re a surge in the world,” said Rob Hardwick, a deputy officer of St. John’s County, south of Jacksonville. Only Hardwick officials have made more than 700 immigration-related arrests, state officials said.
“I encourage you to board,” Hardwick said in a message to other local law enforcement officials at a press conference Friday.
According to DHS, more than 6,000 arrests in Florida are based on more than 5,000 arrests made over three months in the Los Angeles area and more than 940 arrests made by staff over a month in the Washington, D.C.
Local and state officials in Florida are empowered to launch drastic immigration enforcement efforts to arrest residents who lack legal status, thanks to the revival of the Trump administration, an old federal program that delegates authority to local police, county sheriffs and state agencies.
The number of 287(g) contracts surged to 1,036 during Trump’s second administration, with Florida’s agency signing 326 more than any other state. Although some participating agencies have something to do with immigration enforcement, including Florida’s Lottery Bureau, it appears to be very few if any.
Friday’s funding announcement includes more than $10 million for local Florida agencies and an additional $28.5 million for state-level partners, covering equipment and transportation costs and offsetting the salaries, profits and overtime costs of the more than 4,700 Florida executives currently deposited to implement immigration enforcement. “This is just the beginning,” Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday.
Also on Friday, authorities released details of operations carried out by local, state and federal partners, leading to more than 350 arrests in Central Florida over four days. Speaking to reporters at an event in Cocoa, Florida, Jeff Dinis, the US Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent for the Miami Sector, said the federal government has a “better partner” than Florida and maintains the state as a national model.
“Florida and our Florida Sheriff are embedded in every aspect of homeland security,” says Dinise.
In a state where nearly a quarter of its residents are foreign-born and much of its economy is driven by tourism, hospitality and agriculture, Florida is the main place for law enforcement to find and detain people suspected of being in the country illegally. The traffic stop meant nabing unsuccessful migrant workers on their way to the office, leading to the arrest of at least two US citizens in Florida.
The state also carries hundreds to millions of dollars to house federal immigrant detainees, and holds them in state-run facilities when they appeal their lawsuits or await deportation. The makeshift detention center at the Florida Everglades, known as the “Wannial Catraz,” is the target of multiple federal lawsuits attempting to close remote compounds in tents and trailers.
Earlier this month, Florida officials announced they had opened a second immigration detention facility in a state prison east of Jacksonville.
