Immigration Enforcement Intensifies: Florida Arrests Surge, ICE Facility Under Fire, Protest Acquittal
Three major developments in U.S. immigration enforcement emerged on June 11, 2026, illustrating the intensifying and increasingly contentious nature of the Trump administration’s crackdown. Florida immigration arrests have more than tripled under state-led enforcement, a scathing federal watchdog report revealed millions wasted and detainees endangered at ICE’s largest facility, and a judge acquitted a Democratic congressional candidate arrested during an immigration court protest in New York.
Florida Immigration Arrests Surge Under State-Led Enforcement
Nearly 39,000 immigrants were arrested in Florida during the first 416 days of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to data from AP News and the UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project. That figure represents more than a threefold increase compared to the 11,088 arrests recorded during the preceding 416 days of the Biden administration.
Florida averaged 93 daily arrests during this period, trailing only Texas, which recorded 239 per day. The surge has been driven by an unprecedented expansion of the 287(g) program, which delegates federal immigration enforcement powers to state and local law enforcement agencies. Some 347 agencies in Florida have signed 287(g) agreements, including police departments, sheriff’s offices, the Florida National Guard, Highway Patrol, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and even the Florida Lottery.
Nationally, the 287(g) program has expanded from 135 agreements across 20 states before Trump’s second term to more than 1,700 agreements in 41 states and territories. The Department of Homeland Security has offered financial incentives to encourage participation, including up to $7,500 per officer for equipment and up to $100,000 per agency for vehicle purchases.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has championed Florida’s partnership with ICE, but the enforcement push has raised transparency concerns. Florida agencies have refused to release arrest reports and body camera footage, citing ICE directives that appear to conflict with the state’s 1967 Sunshine Law.
“There’s a lot of officers who have been deputized, given immigration authority, and they are just looking for people,” Vilerka Bilbao, an immigration attorney representing at least 23 clients detained by local police in Jacksonville, told AP News. “They are arresting anybody — they need to show the numbers to DeSantis and the federal government.”
GAO Report: ICE Wasted Millions, Endangered Detainees at Camp East Montana
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office has documented severe violations at Camp East Montana, ICE’s largest detention facility, located on the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. As NPR reported, the facility opened in August 2025 under a $1.3 billion contract with Acquisition Logistics LLC, a small contractor with no prior immigration detention experience.
The GAO report found millions of dollars wasted on meals and operations billed at full capacity even when the detainee population was far lower. At least three people have died while in custody at the facility. One death — that of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban detainee — was ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office. The GAO found that evidence related to his death was missing or destroyed.
A second death — Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan — was ruled a suicide; staff left him unattended despite known risk factors. ICE inspectors found 49 violations to detention standards during a February 2026 inspection. The facility also experienced a measles outbreak that spread into the surrounding community, with delayed reporting hindering contact tracing. A loaded firearm was lost by a contract security guard in January 2026 and never recovered, and a detainee with tuberculosis was placed in the general population due to inadequate screening.
“A loaded gun taken onto a military installation by a private contractor who lost this weapon; evidence in a homicide investigation that was destroyed; tens of millions of taxpayer dollars paid in this no-bid contract that funded services not rendered,” Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said in a statement, calling for the facility to be shut down.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who requested the GAO report, described the findings as “damning.” “We now know even more details of how dangerous and irresponsible the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign truly is,” Durbin said. “Excessive use of force, lacking medical and mental health care, and wasted taxpayer dollars are emblematic of this mass deportation scheme.”
DHS replaced Acquisition Logistics in March 2026 with Amentum Services under a $453 million contract. ICE spokesperson Leticia Zamarripa said the new contractor “will allow Camp East Montana to continue abiding by the highest detention standards with the ability to provide more medical care on-site.” She added, “Far from closing, Camp East Montana is upgrading.”
But advocacy groups remain skeptical. Alana Park, a legal fellow at the Texas Civil Rights Project, told El Paso Matters: “While we hope conditions will improve as soon as possible, ICE and the other involved government agencies have been aware of the issues at the facility since at least 2025, and haven’t fixed them, so it is hard to believe that will change now.”
Judge Acquits Democratic Candidate Brad Lander in Immigration Protest Case
In a separate development, U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo acquitted Brad Lander, a Democratic congressional candidate challenging U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s Democratic primary, of a misdemeanor obstruction charge stemming from an immigration court protest. As AP News reported, the judge delivered the not-guilty verdict after a one-day trial, saying the government failed to prove Lander intended to obstruct elevators or was uncooperative.
“I find the defendant not guilty,” Ricardo said after reading a lengthy analysis of the evidence and Lander’s testimony. Lander jubilantly hugged his lawyers immediately after the proceeding ended.
The charge stemmed from Lander’s arrest on Sept. 18, 2025, during a protest inside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, which houses one of New York City’s immigration courts. Lander had rejected a plea deal weeks after his arrest that would have dismissed the charge in six months. This was not his first arrest at an immigration protest — he was detained in June 2025 after linking arms with someone authorities were trying to detain, though no charges were filed in that incident.
“I feel genuinely moved by the rule of law,” Lander said after his acquittal.
Analysis and Broader Implications
Taken together, these three stories illustrate the multi-front nature of the immigration enforcement battles unfolding across the United States. In Florida, Republican-led state and local governments have embraced enforcement through the 287(g) program, raising questions about transparency and community policing. In Texas, the Camp East Montana scandal highlights the dangers of rapid, no-bid contracting for large-scale detention facilities. And in New York, the Lander acquittal demonstrates the ongoing grassroots resistance in sanctuary cities, where immigration policy has become intertwined with electoral politics.
The 287(g) program’s 12-fold expansion represents a fundamental shift in the relationship between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement. Critics argue it undermines community policing by making local officers agents of federal immigration enforcement, while supporters say it is necessary to address illegal immigration.
Camp East Montana, meanwhile, has become a flashpoint in the broader debate over detention conditions. The GAO report provides bipartisan grounds for criticism, though responses have largely fallen along party lines, with Democrats calling for the facility’s closure and DHS defending its operations.
What to Watch For
Several key questions remain unanswered. Will the GAO recommendations be implemented, and will conditions at Camp East Montana improve under the new contractor? How will the conflict between Florida’s Sunshine Law and federal ICE directives be resolved — through litigation, legislative action, or federal preemption? And will Brad Lander’s acquittal boost his primary challenge against Rep. Dan Goldman, potentially making immigration a defining issue in the race?
What is clear is that immigration enforcement will remain one of the most contentious and consequential issues in American politics as the 2026 midterm elections approach.