Florida Highway Patrol troopers will soon aid ICE in deportation efforts
By Associated Press
February 7, 2025 at 4:58 PM EST
The agency has been authorized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help deport immigrants in the state without legal status. Several Florida law enforcement agencies have already pledged to comply with arrest orders.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers will soon be able to carry out federal immigration orders.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has offered to train and authorize troopers to help deport immigrants in the state without legal status.
The arrangement will help “fulfill the president’s mission to effectuate the largest deportation program in American history,” DeSantis said.
Under President Donald Trump, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reviving and expanding the decades-old 287(g) program that trains local law officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.
Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, recently told sheriffs that he wants to expand 287(g) to include local task forces that can make arrests on the streets, reviving a model that former President Barrack Obama discontinued amid concerns about racial profiling. It's unclear whether that could allow local officers to stop people solely to check their immigration status.
Florida's agreement with ICE allows troopers to interrogate, arrest and detain immigrants suspected of being in the country without legal status and deliver them to federal authorities.
"This program is the maximum amount of participation that we've been asked to do under federal law," DeSantis said during a news conference. "We didn't hesitate to step up. We will take advantage of this, and we will be strong partners."
Several law enforcement agencies across the state and country have already agreed to support ICE officials in their deportation efforts.
A dormant program gets a jumpstart
In the early 2000s, many of the initial participants in the 287(g) program had agreements that allowed them to enforce immigration laws in their communities, not just their jails. But problems arose in several places, including Arizona.
In 2011, a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice found that deputies in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, had engaged in a pattern of racial profiling, unlawful stops and arrests of Latinos. The Department of Homeland Security ended its agreement with the county.
In recent years, ICE has offered two types of 287(g) agreements to law enforcement agencies. One model requires four weeks of training and allows local officers to question suspected noncitizens who are jailed on other charges and detain them for ICE. The other model, which Trump launched during his first term, requires just eight hours of training and only allows local officers to serve federal immigration warrants.
As of December, ICE had 135 agreements with sheriff's offices, police departments and prison systems in 21 states, with requests pending from 35 others. Two-thirds of the agreements were in just three states — Florida, Texas and North Carolina. But no agreements had been signed during Biden’s four years as president, according to ICE.
On his first day back in office, Trump ordered the DHS to maximize 287(g) agreements for local law officers to investigate, apprehend and detain immigrants. At a recent National Sheriffs’ Association conference, Homan said the administration is looking to lighten detention facility regulations and shorten the training to encourage greater collaboration with federal immigration officials.
https://www.facebook.com/GovRonDeSantis/posts/pfbid02Pi2z93SU855WCvFdqYpxLTtMmyXZHbus1eg4bFTxhY9yf9fExSKKytWx76grBgknl
States push for mandatory ICE training
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 2002 was the first to sign a 287(g) agreement with the federal government, running a task force for immigration enforcement. Twenty years later, Florida became the first state to require all local agencies with county jails to join the program or inform the state why they couldn't.
After a Venezuelan man who was illegally in the U.S. killed University of Georgia student Laken Riley, Georgia passed a law last year requiring local law enforcement agencies to apply for the program.
This year, Republican lawmakers in about a dozen states are seeking to require or incentivize cooperative agreements with ICE.
One measure is sponsored by Texas state Rep. David Spiller, a Republican who also authored a law allowing any law enforcement officer to arrest migrants suspected of entering the country illegally. That law is on hold amid a legal challenge.
Spiller said mandatory participation in ICE programs is essential.
“President Trump and border czar Homan cannot remove and deport all the people that are a public safety threat to our state and our nation over the next year and a half without the help of our local law enforcement," Spiller said.
Already this year, Florida lawmakers have passed legislation that would allot millions of dollars for local immigration enforcement efforts. However, DeSantis has vowed to veto it amid a dispute with GOP lawmakers who passed it instead of his proposals.
WUSF's Daylina Miller contributed to this report.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has offered to train and authorize troopers to help deport immigrants in the state without legal status.
The arrangement will help “fulfill the president’s mission to effectuate the largest deportation program in American history,” DeSantis said.
Under President Donald Trump, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reviving and expanding the decades-old 287(g) program that trains local law officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.
Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, recently told sheriffs that he wants to expand 287(g) to include local task forces that can make arrests on the streets, reviving a model that former President Barrack Obama discontinued amid concerns about racial profiling. It's unclear whether that could allow local officers to stop people solely to check their immigration status.
Florida's agreement with ICE allows troopers to interrogate, arrest and detain immigrants suspected of being in the country without legal status and deliver them to federal authorities.
"This program is the maximum amount of participation that we've been asked to do under federal law," DeSantis said during a news conference. "We didn't hesitate to step up. We will take advantage of this, and we will be strong partners."
Several law enforcement agencies across the state and country have already agreed to support ICE officials in their deportation efforts.
A dormant program gets a jumpstart
In the early 2000s, many of the initial participants in the 287(g) program had agreements that allowed them to enforce immigration laws in their communities, not just their jails. But problems arose in several places, including Arizona.
In 2011, a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice found that deputies in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, had engaged in a pattern of racial profiling, unlawful stops and arrests of Latinos. The Department of Homeland Security ended its agreement with the county.
In recent years, ICE has offered two types of 287(g) agreements to law enforcement agencies. One model requires four weeks of training and allows local officers to question suspected noncitizens who are jailed on other charges and detain them for ICE. The other model, which Trump launched during his first term, requires just eight hours of training and only allows local officers to serve federal immigration warrants.
As of December, ICE had 135 agreements with sheriff's offices, police departments and prison systems in 21 states, with requests pending from 35 others. Two-thirds of the agreements were in just three states — Florida, Texas and North Carolina. But no agreements had been signed during Biden’s four years as president, according to ICE.
On his first day back in office, Trump ordered the DHS to maximize 287(g) agreements for local law officers to investigate, apprehend and detain immigrants. At a recent National Sheriffs’ Association conference, Homan said the administration is looking to lighten detention facility regulations and shorten the training to encourage greater collaboration with federal immigration officials.
https://www.facebook.com/GovRonDeSantis/posts/pfbid02Pi2z93SU855WCvFdqYpxLTtMmyXZHbus1eg4bFTxhY9yf9fExSKKytWx76grBgknl
States push for mandatory ICE training
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 2002 was the first to sign a 287(g) agreement with the federal government, running a task force for immigration enforcement. Twenty years later, Florida became the first state to require all local agencies with county jails to join the program or inform the state why they couldn't.
After a Venezuelan man who was illegally in the U.S. killed University of Georgia student Laken Riley, Georgia passed a law last year requiring local law enforcement agencies to apply for the program.
This year, Republican lawmakers in about a dozen states are seeking to require or incentivize cooperative agreements with ICE.
One measure is sponsored by Texas state Rep. David Spiller, a Republican who also authored a law allowing any law enforcement officer to arrest migrants suspected of entering the country illegally. That law is on hold amid a legal challenge.
Spiller said mandatory participation in ICE programs is essential.
“President Trump and border czar Homan cannot remove and deport all the people that are a public safety threat to our state and our nation over the next year and a half without the help of our local law enforcement," Spiller said.
Already this year, Florida lawmakers have passed legislation that would allot millions of dollars for local immigration enforcement efforts. However, DeSantis has vowed to veto it amid a dispute with GOP lawmakers who passed it instead of his proposals.
WUSF's Daylina Miller contributed to this report.