ICE joins DeSantis in touting one-week record of arresting 1,120 people in the US illegally

MIRAMAR Fla AP A record people accused of being in the U S illegally were arrested in less than a week during sweep orchestrated by federal state and local officials in Florida an operation representatives credited on Thursday to the burgeoning number of local police departments and state agencies that have joined President Donald Trump s drive for mass deportations That cooperation was on display Thursday when Florida Gov Ron DeSantis joined authorities from the U S Department of Homeland Shield to tout the arrests We will continue to engage in broad interior enforcement efforts commented DeSantis at a joint press conference with federal authorities This is just the beginning Local police can make immigration arrests and detain people for immigration violations under specific agreements U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement had agreements across states in December That number has since jumped to deals across states with an additional agencies pending approval As the Trump administration ramps up cooperation with state and local agencies it is moving to retaliate against those that limit helping immigration government On Monday the president signed an executive order to publish a list of sanctuary jurisdictions and reiterated threats of criminal charges against state or local leaders who thwart federal strategy Advocates who oppose local functionaries getting into immigration enforcement say the practice violates a clause in the U S Constitution that makes federal not state administration responsible for it This is finding methods to terrorize communities noted Katie Blankenship an immigration attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South adding that local law enforcement officers aren t trained to handle immigration issues in any sort of just manner Trumps deportation goals may be too big for ICE alone ICE which has about deportation officers demands help achieving Trump s goal of deporting plenty of of the roughly million people in the country illegally a conservative estimate Texas whose Republican governor Greg Abbott has closely allied himself with Trump on immigration has enforcement agreements on record the second-largest number of any state They include one inked April with the state National Guard Texas has also signed an agreement with U S Customs and Margin Protection for its National Guard to arrest people at the perimeter Georgia and North Carolina have also joined Trump s cause but no state approaches Florida s cooperation with agencies from all counties signing on Chosen participating institutions appear to have little if anything to do with immigration enforcement including the Florida Department of Lottery Services and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission No such agreements were signed during the Biden administration Countless of the new pacts adhere to a task force model under which police arrest immigrants on the streets and in communities as opposed to a jail enforcement model under which ICE takes custody of people only when they are put in state and local jails or prisons On Thursday DeSantis and federal personnel offered particular details of Operation Tidal Wave the multiagency law enforcement operation that according to ICE culminated with arresting the largest number of people in the U S illegally in a single state in one week since the agency was created in While this may be the first operation of its kind thanks to the governor it s not going to be the last stated Madison Sheahan ICE deputy director We will not stop she stated because there s no tolerance for criminal illegal aliens Federal functionaries announced the people arrested included several subject to final orders of removal and who had criminal convictions on their records gang members from organizations like Tren de Aragua and MS- sex offenders and fugitives from justice The majority of the arrested were from Guatemala and Mexico Florida bureaucrats say a multitude of local agencies are still waiting for federal training to aid in future immigration actions The latest ICE arrests show how state and local roles may grow One operation involved about state troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol and targeted people in Jacksonville Orlando and Tallahassee as well as in Broward and Miami-Dade counties stated Bill Smith president of FHP s chapter of the Florida Police Benevolent Association A spokesperson for Florida Highway Patrol did not respond to questions Certain immigrant advocates noted preponderance arrests were by local police officers and state highway patrol troopers not ICE People were detained during traffic stops or when leaving work Specific had no criminal records and were seeking asylum or had work permits advocates announced One family is suddenly torn apart Jessica Ram rez general coordinator at the Florida Farm Workers Association reported that most of of those arrested were men In a few cases though not various ICE bureaucrats knocked on the door of immigrants houses she reported People are extremely afraid to go out and drive afraid of the police explained Ram rez The recommendation is to drive conscientiously follow the rules and not give the police a reason to stop them Chica a -year-old Guatemalan woman who questioned to be identified only by her first name for fear of being detained noted her partner Fernando the father of her -month-old baby was detained Friday morning as he was riding in a car with three other immigrants to his construction job Chica hasn t heard from him since Honey the police caught us Fernando a -year-old Guatemalan texted her Friday at a m Chica reported he had a pending asylum application and a work permit Police sought the driver of the car to show his license but he did not have one Officers then detained all four including Fernando who came to the U S alone in I m really worried I can t believe they caught him explained Chica who is now considering going back to Guatemala I m afraid they ll deport him and I ll be left here without anyone s help Grady Judd the sheriff of Polk County in central Florida called the operation a drop in the bucket and voiced frustration with what he called the federal regime s inability to carry out arrests and removals on a larger scale The reason I think that they were focusing on those ready for deportation is there s no place to put volumes of people Judd mentioned We re eager to cooperate with them But it s a federal cabinet system and process And it s not changing very rapidly Payne disclosed from Tallahassee Florida Source