MIRAMAR, Fla. – Top officials with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement joined Gov. Ron DeSantis in South Florida Thursday to announce that they have just created a blueprint to carry out Trump’s nationwide mass deportation plan at scale.
They spoke from the ICE-ERO Center in Miramar, located at 2805 SW 145th Ave.
DeSantis was joined by U.S. ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, State Board of Immigration Enforcement Executive Director Larry Keefe and U.S Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Dinise.
A multi-agency immigration enforcement surge dubbed Operation Tidal Wave has resulted in more than 1,100 arrests in a single week in Florida — the highest number in the state’s history, officials announced.
Sheahan said the operation created a “historic marker of a model” that can now be used in other states.
The effort, described as the “first-of-its-kind,” involved the activation of 287(g) officers and more than 250 members of the Florida National Guard to assist federal partners, including ICE.
The 287(g) Program lets ICE work with local and state police to find and deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, aiming to make communities across the country safer.
Described as a force-multiplier in executing the Trump administration‘s campaign promise of mass deportations, officials say the program was central to Operation Tidal Wave.
Sheahan said among those arrested were a Brazilian national with a history of aggravated assault, a Mexican national whose record includes kidnapping, and Colombian nationals convicted of murder.
She said of the 1120 arrests, many of them, committed some sort of other crime or have a record of committing another crime beyond the initial crime of being in this country illegally. And of that number, some they believe may be gang members.
According to a press release from the governor’s office, the countries of origin of those arrested include the following:
- 437 from Guatemala
- 280 from Mexico
- 153 from Honduras
- 48 from Venezuela
- 24 from El Salvador
- 178 from elsewhere
Larry Keefe, Executive Director of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, described Operation Tidal Wave as a “prototype” for mass deportation partnerships between state, local, and federal agencies.
“This is quintessentially a numbers mission,” he said, referring to the scalability of the operation. “Our first op was a test run ... it is not going to be just a succession of surges and press conferences. This is going to be a sustained, persistent effort.”
The week-long operation put that strategy to the test, creating what officials called a use case for future efforts.
They said it was successful and believe they have developed a blueprint that can be scaled up and exported to other states nationwide.
Officials credited ICE and cooperating state agencies for removing the individuals from the streets.
Sheahan also expressed gratitude to several Florida agencies for their support, including the Florida Department of Transportation, the Department of Corrections, and the Florida Highway Patrol.
She also emphasized that the operation reflects the administration‘s broader immigration agenda.
“President Donald Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and ICE are committed to making sure our American families are safe in their own communities because we have zero tolerance for illegal aliens,” she said. “If you are in this country illegally, you are a criminal.”
The operation marks a new level of state and federal collaboration in immigration enforcement, as officials push for expanded use of programs like 287(g), which allows local officers to act in certain immigration enforcement roles.
ICE officials have not yet released the names of those arrested but said additional details will be shared as ongoing investigations conclude.
“All 67 counties in Florida have agreed to the 287(g) agreement with their sheriff departments and we’re getting more police departments to get on board,” DeSantis said.
Building on the success of the operation, DeSantis says he wants to take the state’s role even further — beyond just making arrests — by using National Guard members as immigration judges, if the Trump administration allows it.
“We have both a national guard and a state guard who are used to responding to different types of contingencies. We are ready, willing, and able to take it to the next level, we have submitted plans to DHS to say if this is approved, we will go off to the races, and we will really be able to do from soup to nuts, from apprehension to detention, even putting some of our people in the national guard in line to serve as immigration judges to process this, we can do it,” he said.
DeSantis also revealed the state has submitted plans to the Department of Homeland Security to build tents to expand inmate capacity and proposed using members of the National Guard as immigration judges. He said Florida’s hurricane preparedness playbook shows the state can quickly stand up infrastructure to support large-scale detentions if DHS gives the green light.
The governor also noted that even regulatory agencies — including the Florida Lottery and the Division of Alcohol, Beverage and Tobacco — are now participating in immigration enforcement through 287(g) agreements. He said agents operating in “target-rich environments” may come into contact with undocumented individuals during routine inspections.
The governor brushed aside concerns about due process, arguing that Florida alone has tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants with final deportation orders, and that number climbs into the hundreds of thousands nationwide.
Officials at the news conference said Operation Tidal Wave was a model for how immigration enforcement operations under a future Trump administration could unfold across the U.S.
Local 10 viewers can watch the news conference in the video below.
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