In a four-day operation that has intensified the enforcement of state immigration laws, more than 350 immigrants have been detained in Florida.
Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins announced this Friday that the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) led the operation, stating that those detained will be deported.
The measure is part of a controversial strategy by Florida’s government to use its state agencies, including the FHP, in conducting immigration operations—a role traditionally handled by federal authorities such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to Lieutenant Governor Collins, state officers are conducting daily immigration checks on roads across the state.
The arrests, as reported, have been based on traffic violations, such as driving without a valid state license or even being a passenger in a vehicle without immigration documents.
Detainees’ Fate
While state authorities have not provided a full breakdown of nationalities or specific detention locations, it has been confirmed that immigrants are being processed and transferred to state detention centers.
The lieutenant governor referenced two facilities recently established by Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration: “Alligator Alcatraz”, west of Miami, and “Deportation Depot”, in northern Florida.
The situation at these centers has raised alarms among consuls and civil rights organizations. Mexico’s consul in Orlando, Juan Sabines Guerrero, reported a sharp increase in the number of Mexican citizens detained, with 176 nationals currently held at “Deportation Depot”—more than triple the number from the previous week.
Criticism and Concerns Grow
Pro-immigrant and human rights organizations have strongly condemned both the operations and the conditions at the new detention centers. Groups like Democracy Now! and Human Rights Watch have labeled the facilities as “extrajudicial clandestine sites” and reported “heartbreaking” conditions.
Activists and attorneys have expressed concerns over the lack of transparency in the process and the well-being of detainees, alleging that hundreds of immigrants have “disappeared” within the state detention system, making it difficult for them to access legal representation and contact their families.
These raids are part of a hardline immigration policy by the state of Florida, which has actively sought to train its officers under ICE collaboration programs, such as the 287(g) program, to identify and detain undocumented immigrants.
