Governor Ron DeSantis signed agreements with the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or FWC, and the Florida State Guard.
The 287(g) agreements are between the Florida agencies and ICE, giving the agencies more power to enforce immigration policies and laws at the local and state level.
While the program has been in the state for a few years, DeSantis said these new agreements will help accelerate the goals he has for Florida on enforcing illegal immigration. These partnerships also grant authority to the agencies to interrogate suspected illegal immigrants.
“It also allows ICE enforcement and removal operations to partner with state and local enforcement agencies to identify and remove already incarcerated criminal aliens who are eligible for removal before they are re-released into the community,” said DeSantis Wednesday in Tallahassee.
In addition to these agencies, the Florida department of agriculture and the Florida Highway patrol have also signed 287(g) agreements.
The Executive Director of the FWC, Roger Young, said the program will give the department additional training and the power to protect the state’s borders.
“We will no longer have to wait for federal assets to arrive to help us with this situation and to transport individuals for processing,” Young said. “We, along with our state and local partners, will now be able to detect, detain and then transport to be processed for deportation.”
With these new partnerships, Desantis said he is hopeful that deportations will be carried out more efficiently.
“We want to be part of the solution,” DeSantis said. “We understand this may be our last chance to solve this problem once and for all. So all the state agencies are on board. We're ready to roll.”
Earlier this month, DeSantis signed a bill package passed by a special session of the Florida Legislature aimed at carrying out President Donald Trump ’s mass deportation agenda.
