Florida Highway Patrol troopers to enforce immigration law as special deputy U.S. Marshals

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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