Gov. Ron DeSantis holds up memos deputizing state agents to carry out some of the functions of federal immigration officers. He signed the agreements on Feb. 19, 2025. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)
Gov. Ron DeSantis traveled to Homestead Wednesday to highlight agreements with the federal government, now signed by every county sheriff in Florida, allowing deputies to question people about their immigration status while conducting routine police work.
The agreements are part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “task force model” program that DeSantis said would lead to “street-level” enforcement operations, adding that the plan calls for intensive training.
ICE lets local officials stop immigrants on the streets as task force program is back
“President Trump promised to conduct the largest deportation operation in American history,” DeSantis said during a press conference at Homestead Air Force Base. “The fact is, if the state and locals are not fully participating in those efforts, it’s going to be very difficult to achieve that. So, Florida, we’ve stood up. We want to be part of the solution.”
The Obama administration discontinued the “task force model” of an agreement between local law enforcement and the feds in 2012 after a Department of Justice investigation found that an Arizona task force engaged in widespread racial profiling and discrimination against Latinos, costing taxpayers an estimated $314 million in legal damages.
Local law enforcement and county jails in Florida already had other types of agreements with ICE, which allowed them to hold people with immigration detainers already in custody.
The Trump administration is considering detaining immigrants subject to deportation in the military facility where DeSantis held the press conference, according to The New York Times. DeSantis said he wasn’t aware of a plan to do that but noted that the South Florida base offers easy access to the Americas.
“We have different installations as well, so we’re going to work through it,” the governor said. “It’ll be a partnership, and if they ask us to supplement, and we have the wherewithal to do it, you know, my view is going to be, we should do it.”