U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local law enforcement
arrested 1,120 people in Florida during a massive six-day sweep, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced. The effort that took place from April 21 through April 26, nicknamed
"Operation Tidal Wave," was the largest joint immigration operation in Florida history and the
largest number in a single state in one week in ICE's history, DeSantis said in a prepared statement on May 1. As many as 250 local and state law enforcement and National Guard resources were deployed, according to ICE deputy director Madison Sheahan at a May 1 news conference with federal immigration officials in a federal facility in southwest Broward County, under the authority of the
287(g) program . This
ICE initiative allows local law enforcement agencies to help "identify and remove criminal aliens who are amenable to removal from the U.S." "This operation really is a historic marker of success that was made possible because of the partnership with the state of Florida," Sheehan said. Sheehan and DeSantis stressed during the press conference that 63% of the "criminal illegal aliens" were people with existing criminal arrests or convictions and listed notable arrests such as a Brazilian with a "history" of aggravated assault, a Mexican "whose history" includes kidnapping and a Colombian convicted of murder.
How many people were arrested in Florida in the ICE Operation Tidal Wave?
According to DeSantis and federal officials, 1,120 people were arrested, including 378 with final orders of removal issued by an immigration judge. "Officers arrested various violent offenders, gang members, sex offenders, fugitives from justice and those who pose significant public safety threats,"
DeSantis said in a press release . The count also included members of foreign gangs and terrorist organizations such as MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Brown Pride Aztecas, Barrio Azteca, Surenos (sur-13) and 18th Street Gang, he said. "We will not stop until our American families and everyday Americans are safe in their own communities because we have zero tolerance for criminal illegal aliens," Sheahan said. When questioned about the other 27% of arrests for people without existing criminal arrests or convictions, Sheahan said that "everybody that is in this country illegally is a criminal," which could include people whose asylum cases and immigration claims are still being adjudicated. Critics have also pointed to multiple instances reported of mistaken identities, random sweeps, U.S. citizens
sent out of the country , and people detained and shipped out without any criminal charges filed, trials, or ways to appeal. The most well-known is Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was picked up and sent to a prison in El Salvador without due process and kept there despite orders from
a federal court and the
Supreme Court to bring him back. On April 16, a Georgia native with an ID and Social Security card on him was
arrested in Florida's Panhandle under a blocked Florida immigration law. The family of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez presented his birth certificate to a judge, who agreed it was valid but said she had no power over his release. Lopez-Gomez was finally released after 30 hours in prison.
Which countries did the people arrested in Operation Tidal Wave come from?
Where did ICE and Florida law enforcement arrest immigrants in Operation Tidal Wave?
Who is cooperating with ICE to find immigrants? What is the 287(g) program?
State and local law enforcement partners have also been enlisted to help with federal immigration enforcement through the
287(g) program , an ICE initiative that allows local law enforcement agencies to help "identify and remove criminal aliens who are amenable to removal from the U.S.,"
according to ICE . "State troopers, local police officers, county sheriffs — they're our eyes and ears," Todd Lyons, the acting ICE director, told ABC News. "They encountered these criminal aliens out and about during their regular duties, and they're able to go ahead and identify those public safety threats for us." Nearly
230 Florida law enforcement agencies , including sheriff's offices, city police departments and college and university campus police, have signed 287(g) agreements, the most out of any state in the nation, according to a joint report by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times. More than 130 of the currently active agreements are under the task force model, which allows law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight, including questioning, arresting, and detaining people suspected of violating federal immigration laws.