Florida Immigration Arrests Surge Under Trump’s Second Term
Immigration arrests in Florida have quietly surged under President Donald Trump’s second term, with state and local law enforcement agencies taking an increasingly prominent role in enforcement actions. Nearly 39,000 immigrants were arrested in the 416 days from January 20, 2025, through March 11, 2026 — more than triple the 11,088 arrests recorded during the comparable period under the Biden administration, according to data from the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project analyzed by AP News.
On average, Florida recorded 93 daily immigration arrests during that period, trailing only Texas, which logged 239 per day. The surge is driven by the rapid expansion of Section 287(g) agreements, which deputize state and local officers to enforce federal immigration law.
The 287(g) Program: From Obscurity to Center Stage
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, created by Congress in 1996, allows the federal government to delegate immigration enforcement powers to state and local law enforcement agencies. Under these agreements, officers can interrogate, detain, and arrest individuals for civil immigration violations — authority traditionally reserved for federal agents.
The program existed under previous administrations but never at this scale. Before Trump’s second term began, there were just 135 agreements across 20 states. Today, there are more than 1,700 active agreements spanning 41 states and territories, according to NPR.
“There has never been the kind of whole-government mobilizing around immigration that we’re currently seeing,” said Doris Meissner, who led the Immigration and Naturalization Service under President Bill Clinton. She described Trump’s approach as “putting 287(g) agreements on steroids.”
Florida’s Leading Role
Florida has emerged as the national leader in 287(g) participation, with 347 state and local agencies signed on — more than any other state. The list includes police and sheriff’s departments, the Florida National Guard, the Highway Patrol, and even unconventional agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Lottery.
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has championed the push, requiring all 67 county sheriffs to participate. “No state has moved faster or done more to combat illegal immigration than Florida, and we will continue to lead the charge in protecting our communities,” DeSantis said on May 29, 2026, while announcing the results of three major enforcement operations, according to the Florida Governor’s Office.
Those operations — Operation Sandhill Sentinel, Operation LOCATE, and Operation Criminal Return — resulted in hundreds of arrests, including 250 arrests in South Florida, more than 400 unaccompanied migrant children identified or located, and 230 arrests of registered sex offenders and other serious offenders.
Financial Incentives Driving Participation
The Department of Homeland Security has offered substantial financial incentives to encourage local participation, including up to $7,500 per officer for equipment, $100,000 per agency for vehicles, and full salary reimbursement for participating officers. These incentives, made possible through Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, have made cooperation attractive for cash-strapped local agencies.
“They are under pressure to deliver,” experts say, as noted by AP News. Immigration attorney Vilerka Bilbao, who represents at least 23 clients detained by local police in the Jacksonville area, told AP: “There’s a lot of officers who have been deputized, given immigration authority, and they are just looking for people. They are arresting anybody — they need to show the numbers to DeSantis and the federal government.”
Civil Rights and Transparency Concerns
The rapid expansion has raised serious concerns about civil rights violations and transparency. Critics warn that deputizing local police for immigration enforcement leads to racial profiling and pretextual stops — minor traffic violations used to investigate immigration status.
In one case detailed by AP News, a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer pulled up to a Guatemalan couple walking their dog in Bonita Springs, asked for identification, and arrested the husband on what the wife described as a bogus charge. The man had two final orders of removal, according to DHS.
In another case, a 44-year-old Guatemalan man and his 21-year-old son were detained by Lee County sheriff’s deputies in a store parking lot, told their license plate was expired — though it was valid until March — and were deported to Guatemala a week later, despite having pending immigration court cases.
Transparency has also become a flashpoint. An ICE directive to 287(g) partners in Florida states that information obtained under the agreements is “under the control of ICE” and cannot be released without federal approval. This appears to conflict with Florida’s long-standing Sunshine Law, which presumes records are public unless specifically protected.
Detention Centers and the Alligator Alcatraz Saga
Florida opened two state-run immigration detention centers in the past year: “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades and the “Deportation Depot” at the Baker Correctional Institution. Alligator Alcatraz, built in just eight days on a remote airfield in Big Cypress National Preserve, was designed to hold 3,000 people with plans for expansion to 5,000.
However, the facility is now slated for closure after less than a year of operation, according to USA Today. The cost of operating the center — approximately $1 million per day — was cited as the primary reason. The Guardian reported that state officials told vendors to prepare for a breakdown of the tented camp beginning in June 2026.
Human rights groups had criticized conditions at the facility, describing it as a “failed experiment in human suffering.” Environmental advocates and Native American tribes, including the Miccosukee and Seminole, had also opposed its construction on sacred lands and fragile wetlands.
National Implications and Pushback
Florida’s model is being closely watched as a potential template for other Republican-led states. However, not all states are following suit. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger issued an executive order terminating 287(g) agreements in the state, and Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed emergency legislation prohibiting the agreements.
In sanctuary cities like Chicago, resistance has been fierce, with residents recording cellphone videos of federal agents and using whistles as a sound of resistance.
What’s Next
The rapid expansion of 287(g) agreements represents a fundamental shift in American immigration enforcement — from a traditionally federal responsibility to a shared federal-state-local model. With more than 1,700 agreements now in place and Florida leading the way, the program’s long-term effectiveness and legal challenges remain open questions. The Government Accountability Office has twice — in 2009 and 2021 — recommended that ICE create performance metrics for the program, but those recommendations have yet to be implemented.
As the 2026 midterm elections approach, immigration enforcement is likely to remain a defining issue, with Florida serving as both a laboratory and a battleground for the future of American immigration policy.