Every county sheriff鈥檚 office in Florida can do street level immigration enforcement. That's due to agreements they signed with ICE and the Department of Homeland security this week.
The 287(g) agreements allow deputies to enforce immigration violations as part of their routine duties and allows ICE to serve and execute administrative warrants in their jails.
Gov. Ron DeSantis applauded those agreements during a press conference Wednesday. He made his remarks in front of several state law enforcement helicopters and a crowd of officers dressed in uniform.
鈥淲e're the only state in the country where all of the counties have done this. This is not just saying, 鈥極h, if there's an illegal alien or jail, then we'll let ICE pick them up.鈥� Obviously, you got to do that. It's also not saying that, 鈥極h, well, we'll honor a detainer or a warrant. Of course, you have to do that.鈥� This is a task force model which will lead to street level enforcement operations,鈥� DeSantis said
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The state鈥檚 sheriff鈥檚 offices announced agreements Monday to open up their jails for detentions for ICE. The moves are due to requirements in the immigration package passed by the Florida legislature in last month鈥檚 special session. It鈥檚 meant to help President Donald Trump鈥檚 planned mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.
鈥淧resident Trump promised to conduct the largest deportation operation in American history. 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. We are going to be there every step of the way,鈥� DeSantis said.
Critics of the agreement are concerned it will lead to racial profiling.
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