Hispanic drivers were twice as likely to be arrested by Florida Highway Patrol than white drivers during traffic stops, according to a report released Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
The ACLU researchers examined approximately 733,000 traffic stops across the state between August 2022 and March 2024 and found stark racial disparities,
Notably, the group鈥檚 examination ended about a year before FHP inked a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February 2025. That agreement has empowered over 1,800 troopers statewide to enforce immigration law during routine police work and supercharged the arrests of undocumented immigrants in Florida.
鈥淭he evidence suggests that bias may be amplified through 287(g)鈥檚 delegation of federal immigration enforcement authority, as FHP already demonstrates significant racial disparities,鈥� the ACLU report claimed.
A spokesperson for Florida Highway Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
Dave Kerner, the executive director of FHP鈥檚 parent agency, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, defended last May against complaints of racial profiling.
鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be people that disagree with what we're doing, but we're executing on a mission that is before us,鈥� Kerner said. 鈥淲e have a lawful duty and powers to investigate people's status in the United States as a result of that delegation of authority.鈥�
of racial have increased during Florida鈥檚 all-out crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Profiling is difficult to prove. Previous reporting by SA国际传谋 identified potential issues in how FHP troopers are classifying race on traffic records. SA国际传谋 examined one trooper who patrols a majority-Hispanic city and claimed in his paperwork he did not ticket or arrest a single Hispanic driver in over 100 cases in roughly a year.
FHP鈥檚 classifications leave little room for nuance: they allow troopers to identify drivers as 鈥淲鈥� (White), 鈥淏鈥� (Black), 鈥淚鈥� (American Indian), 鈥淗鈥� (Hispanic), 鈥淎鈥� (Asian) or 鈥淥鈥� (Other), according to .
Yet 鈥� even with the as white 鈥� Hispanics made up a disproportionate share of drivers arrested for traffic violations, according to the ACLU.
Drivers classified as Hispanic comprised slightly more than a quarter of all traffic stops but 43% of arrests, the data found.
Additionally, drivers marked as black were statistically overrepresented in stops 鈥� 22% 鈥� and arrests 鈥� 28% 鈥� compared to the population size, which is 15%.
Drivers classified as white made up nearly half of all stops, 45%, but only about a quarter of arrests.
The disparities worsened with license violations, according to the report.
Troopers can only learn if a person is driving without a valid license after they pull them over. In Florida, it鈥檚 an arrestable offense and that means officers have discretion over whether to haul the person to jail or let them off with a ticket.
鈥淭he fact that officers chose to arrest Hispanic drivers for license violations at nearly double the rate of other drivers, despite all drivers being equally subject to arrest for this offense, demonstrates differential enforcement that cannot be explained by legal requirements and suggests bias in arrest decision-making,鈥� the report stated.
Thousands of immigrants arrested by FHP troopers
The ACLU鈥檚 findings do not include any data from this past year, when the Trump administration鈥檚 crackdown on immigration went into full effect. Gov. DeSantis鈥� administration has worked diligently to fulfill Trump鈥檚 deportation mandate, and FHP has been the tip of the spear.
Since last August, FHP has arrested approximately 6,600 people on federal immigration charges across the state. Those figures are likely an undercount, as the state only started reporting data four months after FHP signed on to 287(g).
Last month, an FHP press release touted an operation with U.S. Border Patrol in Key Largo.
鈥淭he Florida Highway Patrol leads in the apprehension and arrest of criminal illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes here or abroad,鈥� Kerner said in the release.
SA国际传谋 one-fourth of all immigration arrests in Florida, via ICE, Border Patrol or any 287(g) agency, were for people without a criminal record, according to a SA国际传谋 analysis of the from January 2025 to March 2026.
Just under 45% were for those who had 鈥減ending criminal charges鈥� and approximately 30% were for 鈥渃onvicted criminals,鈥� the data obtained from ICE shows. ICE gets to define what comprises a criminal charge or conviction. In its data, the agency doesn鈥檛 differentiate between felony and misdemeanor or violent and nonviolent crimes.
