Feds launch first-of-its-kind sting with Florida cops to deport undocumented immigrants

Ana Ceballos and Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald on Apr 23, 2025

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Federal authorities launched a large-scale operation in Florida this week to find and detain some 800 undocumented immigrants, in the first coordinated immigration enforcement effort with state police since the Trump administration came into power.

The Department of Homeland Security-led effort — nicknamed Operation Tidal Wave — started on Monday and will continue through Saturday, according to a copy of the plans reviewed by the Miami Herald. The individuals targeted are located in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and the cities of Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Stuart, Tallahassee and Fort Myers, the records show.

It is unclear how many have been detained by immigration authorities as of Wednesday. The records do not explain in detail how the federal government chose its targets, but do say that authorities are trying to detain “criminal individuals or immigration violators” that have final deportation orders.

The operation is a multicounty collaboration on immigration enforcement between the Trump administration and public safety agencies in Florida, a state where roughly one-fifth of the population is foreign-born. While federal authorities are leading the effort, the collaborative approach to immigration enforcement is a glimpse into the type of policing partnerships that could soon start to pick up in Florida as Gov. Ron DeSantis pushes local and state law enforcement agencies into the fold of Trump’s efforts.

In a statement issued to the Herald, an ICE spokesperson said the federal agency does not confirm or discuss ongoing or future operations “due to operational security reasons and for the safety of our law enforcement personnel.” The agency said that as part of its routine operations, it arrests immigrants who commit crimes and violate immigration laws.

“The agency publicly announces the results of operations when appropriate,” the spokesperson said. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about how the agency had chosen its targets. A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson referred the Herald to ICE.

Homeland Security is leading the effort with the help of other federal agencies and state law enforcement partners that have been enlisted to help with federal immigration enforcement through the 287(g) program, an ICE initiative that allows local law enforcement agencies to deputize their officers to perform limited immigration-agent functions.

Since President Donald Trump started his second term in office, nearly 230 Florida law enforcement agencies have signed 287(g) agreements, the most out of any state in the union. Over 130 of currently active agreements are under the task force model, which allows officers to question, arrest, and detain people suspected of violating federal immigration laws.

Another 70 agencies have pending applications to join the program, according to ICE data. Campus police departments, local police departments as well as state agencies and subdivisions, like the Florida Department of Lottery’s security division, are among the agencies planning to partner with ICE.

Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has touted several law enforcement operations since Trump took office. That includes conducting horse patrols with Customs and Border Protection along the southwest border; visiting Guantanamo Bay, where the administration sent immigrants before deporting them to Venezuela; and seizing bricks of cocaine from a vehicle at a port of entry in California.

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