“It will continue here in Florida”: Gov. DeSantis celebrates brutal immigration takedown, 10,400 illegals arrested in Florida
Florida – Florida has carried out what state officials call the biggest collaborative immigration enforcement action in the history of Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the past eight months. More than 10,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested as a result.
This week, Governor Ron DeSantis celebrated the milestone, saying that the operation’s size and reach were due to an aggressive increase in cooperation between state, municipal, and federal officials.
The governor said that the arrests are the result of Florida’s widespread use of 287(g) agreements, which are formal partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security that let state and local law enforcement help federal immigration officers.
“This is the largest joint immigration enforcement operation in ICE’s history, and we’re proud that it will continue here in Florida,” DeSantis said.
These agreements let some officers do some immigration-related work while they are on patrol. DeSantis added that the plan has allowed officials to work in all 67 counties, with local agencies collaborating with ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI.
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Operation Tidal Wave, the name of the law enforcement effort, started in April and has resulted to the arrest of more than 10,400 individuals. State officials indicated that about 63 percent of the arrests were possible because of the 287(g) agreements. The governor’s office revealed data that shows the largest groups of detainees were from Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras. These three countries made up a large part of the people who were arrested during the operation.
DeSantis said that Florida’s strategy has gone further than that of any other state. More than 300 police departments in Florida are now members of the 287(g) program, which is nearly half of all such agreements in the US.
State officials noted that the number of agreements has surged by about 600 percent since the beginning of 2025. ICE stated that this is a good example for other states to follow. The governor also said that some unconventional organizations, like the Department of Lottery, have joined the initiative. This shows how big Florida’s effort is.
DeSantis continues to attempt to make himself a national leader on border and immigration policy, which is why the crackdown is happening. His administration has portrayed the operation as part of a larger effort to increase enforcement and stop illegal immigration. Supporters have praised this position, while opponents have criticized it.
People have also noticed that the governor’s attention on immigration and other policy issues fits with rumors that he would run for president once his term ends in 2027.
The 287(g) program’s growth has also brought back up a long-running argument. Some people say that using local police to enforce immigration laws takes away resources, hurts trust in the community, and makes racial profiling more likely.
These concerns have come back to Capitol Hill, where House Democrats recently brought back a bill to abolish the program completely. People who support the bill claim that only the federal government should be in charge of enforcing immigration laws. This way, local police may focus on keeping the peace instead of dealing with immigration issues.
