ICE Florida NEWS: Arresting Illegal Aliens Thank You ICE

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the State of Florida recently announced the arrests of over 1,100 illegal immigrants during Operation Tidal Wave. The operation has achieved the highest number of arrests in a single week by a state in ICE’s history. Numerous individuals with serious criminal backgrounds have been detained, including a Brazilian national with assault charges and a Mexican national charged in a kidnapping.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said, “I think the main reason why this operation is significant is because it’s the first of its kind. It’s one that not only we’ve been doing what we have, but we have surged all our federal partners together along with Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement [and] Removal Operations, which are all the enforcement arms of ICE, but we’re also using all our 287(g) partners in the state of Florida. We’re using state, local and county law enforcement agencies to assist us in our operations.”

Operation Tidal Wave has led to 1,120 arrests, with 63% of those detained having prior criminal records. Among the arrested, 378 individuals have final orders of removal issued by immigration judges and includeg gang members and violent offenders linked to MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.

Lyons said, “We brought a ‘whole the government’ approach with cooperative jurisdictions that want to help ICE secure communities in neighborhoods and remove public safety threats from our neighborhoods.”

Lyons added, “State troopers, local police officers, county sheriffs — they’re our eyes and ears. 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.”

Of the arrested individuals, 437 are from Guatemala, 280 are from Mexico, 153 are from Honduras, 48 are from Venezuela, 24 are from El Salvador, and 178 are from elsewhere. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated that state agencies played a key role in supporting these arrests, reinforcing the state’s commitment to immigration enforcement.

DeSantis said, “It sends the message going forward that the United States of America is serious about enforcing its immigration laws.”

DeSantis emphasized that Operation Tidal Wave sends a message regarding the seriousness of U.S. immigration laws, contrasting current enforcement with previous leniencies. The operation demonstrates ongoing efforts to enhance border security and public safety in Florida.