TAMPA, Fla. – Gov Ron DeSantis announced Monday Florida Highway Patrol troopers will be enforcing immigration law just like federal agents.

This week, more than 100 FHP troopers were the first state officers in the country to be sworn in as special deputy U.S. Marshals.

DeSantis said the troopers will be able to enforce immigration law independently from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“It empowers state troopers to execute federal warrants and remove dangerous criminal aliens from our communities,” DeSantis said.

During the news conference in Tampa, DeSantis was with Larry Keefe, the executive director of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement.

Keefe held up the state’s Immigration Enforcement Operations Plan, a 37-page “Florida blueprint” that he said is a “prototype” for other states to follow.

Dave Kerner, the executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said deputized troopers have federal authority to detain, investigate, apprehend, and deport.

The ramp-up follows Operation Tidal Wave last month. A state-federal partnership to detain more than 1,000 migrants in Florida in less than a week.

“We were told Tidal Wave was so successful and the trend or pattern for the state of Florida. What we are doing is such that is the new normal,” Keefe said.

DeSantis also released a statement saying Florida submitted a plan to the federal government to “contribute new detention facilities” and a proposal to deputize Florida National Guard JAGS as immigration judges.

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SUNRISE, Fla. — It’s a formula the Florida Panthers keep using in the playoffs: take a lead after two periods, then let Sergei Bobrovsky and the defense do the rest. And it worked again.

Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots for his fifth career playoff shutout, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett scored and the Panthers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 on Sunday night in Game 4 to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Florida has won 25 consecutive playoff games when leading after two periods, a streak that goes back to May 5, 2022. And in helping to tie the series, Bobrovsky officially put a slow start to rest. In Games 1 and 2 last week in Toronto, he allowed nine goals en route to two losses. He returned to Amerant Bank Arena on Friday night for Game 3, and allowed four more.

“It’s a series,” Bobrovsky said. “The bigger games are ahead, so we’re excited about them. The series comes down to a best-of-three, so it’s a big game, next one.”

Home-ice advantage has held, and Toronto will hope that trend continues in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The Leafs won Games 1 and 2 at home, then dropped Games 3 and 4 in Sunrise.

“We had looks,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “They’re doing a good job of swarming us with numbers, obviously. … It’s a battle out there. This is what it is. They don’t give you a lot.”

Verhaeghe scored on a power play — Florida’s fourth of the game — in the first period, Bennett added the insurance score with 7:50 left and Bobrovsky did the rest for his second shutout of this postseason.

Joseph Woll stopped 35 shots for the Maple Leafs.

“He was great,” Berube said of his netminder. “He played an excellent game.”

Verhaeghe’s goal came after Matthew Tkachuk, along the left-wing boards, threaded a pass through the slot and past two defenders. It found Verhaeghe — who slammed a one-timer past Woll.

That was part of an early spree for Florida. The Panthers took 21 of the game’s first 26 shots on net, controlling play for long stretches and keeping all the action in front of Woll. He held firm, time and again, keeping Toronto in it.

Bennett said enough. He came in from Woll’s left, with Verhaeghe opposite him, looking for a passing lane. When none appeared, Bennett went to the front of the net, watched Woll commit, then pushed the puck into the net before punching the air.

“That was more like the type of Panthers playoff hockey that we’re used to,” Bennett said.

It got chippy late, as games this late in a series tend to do. Oliver Ekman-Larsson — part of the Florida team that won the Stanley Cup last season — delivered a shot to the head and neck area of Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues about five minutes into the third period. It was originally called a major, then downgraded to a minor after review.

Rodrigues will need further evaluation Monday, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

And four players — Toronto’s Max Domi for boarding Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov; and Toronto’s Bobby McMann, Florida’s Aaron Ekblad and Panthers forward Brad Marchand on his 37th birthday — all got 10-minute misconducts as time expired.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

As we prepare to honor mothers this weekend, there’s a new place in town created by moms for moms. You’ve heard the saying “It takes a village…” — and this new center hopes to be just that.

Nicole Cumberbatch is an entrepreneur in Coral Springs, but she’s also a mother. She created The Motherhood Village, a community that started out with a podcast, a resource hub for moms, and now it’s a 5,000-square-foot family wellness center in Coral Springs. 

The Motherhood Village is a center that caters to newborns all the way to school-aged kids. There’s a STEM lab, a café, and a co-working space all under the supervision of a nanny.

“As a mom, it’s overwhelming to even pick what we’re going to have for dinner. So the fact that we can have one space that a mom can go, a safe space, a comfortable space that a mom can feel comfortable coming to and not thinking like, ‘Oh my God, wait. I need to do enrichment classes for my toddler, but then I need to get energy out for my big kid — like, where do I go?’,” said Cumberbatch.

Nicole explained she created the space because she struggled to find indoor play centers that catered to older kids. But it’s more than just an outlet for children — The Motherhood Village also hosts events and seminars for moms, providing support through different phases of motherhood.

“The vision is just to make sure that moms feel supported, feel seen, and that they have a space that truly — from the beginning of their pregnancy, from the newborn area that we have, all the way through to their school-aged child — that we have a space for them here.”

On Friday, The Motherhood Village hosted a Mother’s Day retreat — and in a few weeks, they’ll be offering free mental health screenings. You can find out more at themotherhoodvillage.com.