ICE joins DeSantis in touting one-week record of arresting 1,120 people in the US illegally

MIRAMAR, Fla. (AP) — A record 1,120 people accused of being in the U.S. illegally were arrested in less than a week during sweep orchestrated by federal, state and local authorities in Florida, an operation officials credited on Thursday to the burgeoning number of local police departments and state agencies that have joined President Donald Trump’s drive for mass deportations.

That cooperation was on display Thursday when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joined officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to tout the arrests.

“We will continue to engage in broad interior enforcement efforts,” said DeSantis at a joint press conference with federal officials. “This is just the beginning.”

Local police can make immigration arrests and detain people for immigration violations under specific agreements. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had 135 agreements across 21 states in December. That number has since jumped to 517 deals across 39 states, with an additional 74 agencies pending approval.

As the Trump administration ramps up cooperation with state and local agencies, it is moving to retaliate against those that limit helping immigration authorities. On Monday, the president signed an executive order to publish a list of “sanctuary” jurisdictions and reiterated threats of criminal charges against state or local officials who thwart federal policy.

Advocates who oppose local officials getting into immigration enforcement say the practice violates a clause in the U.S. Constitution that makes federal, not state, authorities responsible for it.

“This is finding methods to terrorize communities,” said Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South, adding that local law enforcement officers aren't trained to handle immigration issues "in any sort of just manner.”

ICE, which has about 6,000 deportation officers, needs help achieving Trump's goal of deporting many of the roughly 11 million people in the country illegally, a conservative estimate.

Texas, whose Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has closely allied himself with Trump on immigration, has 76 enforcement agreements on record, the second-largest number of any state. They include one inked April 10 with the state National Guard. Texas has also signed an agreement with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for its National Guard to arrest people at the border.

Georgia and North Carolina have also joined Trump's cause, but no state approaches Florida's cooperation, with agencies from all 67 counties signing on. Some participating institutions appear to have little, if anything, to do with immigration enforcement, including the Florida Department of Lottery Services and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

No such agreements were signed during the Biden administration. Many of the new pacts adhere to a “task force model” under which police arrest immigrants on the streets and in communities, as opposed to a “jail enforcement model” under which ICE takes custody of people only when they are put in state and local jails or prisons.

Lena Graber, a senior staff attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which advocates for immigrants, said the Obama administration phased out the task force model in 2012 over widespread concern that law enforcement organizations authorized under it were racially profiling people when making arrests.

On Thursday, DeSantis and federal officials offered some details of “Operation Tidal Wave,” the multiagency law enforcement operation that, according to ICE, culminated with arresting the largest number of people in the U.S. illegally in a single state in one week since the agency was created in 2003.

“While this may be the first ... operation of its kind, thanks to the governor, it’s not going to be the last,” said Madison Sheahan, ICE deputy director. “We will not stop,” she said, "because there’s no tolerance for criminal, illegal aliens.”

Federal officials said the 1,120 people arrested included many subject to final orders of removal and who had criminal convictions on their records, gang members from organizations like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, sex offenders and fugitives from justice. Most of the arrested were from Guatemala (437) and Mexico (280).

Officials provided few details about the people arrested, how they were arrested or where. They identified eight people by name whom they alleged had criminal records beyond being in the country illegally.

The Florida Immigrant Coalition, an organization with more than 80 members across the state, said authorities showed no evidence that those they detained had committed crimes against the public.

“DeSantis and ICE are dodging the truth,” said Renatta Bozzetto, deputy director at FLIC. “The story they are not telling is that they are ignoring due process, ripping families apart.”

Florida officials say many local agencies are still waiting for federal training to aid in future immigration actions. The latest ICE arrests show how state and local roles may grow.

One operation involved about 80 state troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol and targeted people in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tallahassee, as well as in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, said Bill Smith, president of FHP’s chapter of the Florida Police Benevolent Association. A spokesperson for Florida Highway Patrol did not respond to questions.

Some immigrant advocates said most arrests were by local police officers and state highway patrol troopers, not ICE. People were detained during traffic stops or when leaving work. Some had no criminal records and were seeking asylum, or had work permits, advocates said.

Jessica Ramírez, general coordinator at the Florida Farm Workers Association, said that most of those arrested were men. In some cases, though not many, ICE officials knocked on the door of immigrants' houses, she said.

“People are extremely afraid to go out and drive, afraid of the police,” said Ramírez. “The recommendation is to drive carefully, follow the rules, and not give the police a reason to stop them.”

Chica, a 25-year-old Guatemalan woman who asked to be identified only by her first name for fear of being detained, said her partner Fernando, the father of her 3-month-old baby, was detained Friday morning as he was riding in a car with three other immigrants to his construction job. Chica hasn’t heard from him since.

“Honey, the police caught us,” Fernando, a 20-year-old Guatemalan, texted her Friday at 7:47 a.m.

Chica said he had a pending asylum application and a work permit. Police asked the driver of the car to show his license but he did not have one. Officers then detained all four, including Fernando, who came to the U.S alone in 2020.

“I’m really worried. I can’t believe they caught him,” said Chica, who is now considering going back to Guatemala. “I’m afraid they’ll deport him and I’ll be left here without anyone’s help."

Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida. Rebecca Santana contributed from Washington.

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference about a recent immigration enforcement operation, at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Posters of alleged criminals who officials said were arrested in a recent immigration enforcement operation are displayed as Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Posters of alleged criminals who officials said were arrested in a recent immigration enforcement operation are reflected in a Department of Homeland Security vehicle during a press conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Larry Keefe, executive director of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, speaks during a press conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Jeffrey Dinise, chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol-Miami Sector, participates in a press conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Posters of alleged criminals who officials said were arrested in a recent immigration enforcement operation are displayed as Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A member of the Florida Highway Patrol listens during a press conference on a recent immigration enforcement operation, with Gov. Ron DeSantis at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference about a recent immigration enforcement operation, at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he’s dropping — for now — his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, a move that comes after legal roadblocks held up the effort.

“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - Only a question of time!" he said in a social media post Wednesday.

Governors typically control states' National Guardsmen, and Trump had deployed troops to all three cities against the wishes of state and local Democratic leaders. He said it was necessary as part of a broader crackdown on immigration, crime and protests.

The president has made a crackdown on crime in cities a centerpiece of his second term — and has toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to stop his opponents from using the courts to block his plans. He has said he sees his tough-on-crime approach as a winning political issue ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Troops had already left Los Angeles after the president deployed them earlier this year as part of a broader crackdown on crime and immigration.

In his post, Trump said the troops' presence was responsible for a drop in crime in the three cities, though they were never on the streets in Chicago and Portland as legal challenges played out. When the Chicago deployment was challenged in court, a Justice Department lawyer said the Guard’s mission would be to protect federal properties and government agents in the field, not “solving all of crime in Chicago.”

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s office in a statement said the city’s reduction in crime was due to the efforts of local police and public safety programs. Chicago officials echoed the sentiment, saying in a release Tuesday that the city had 416 homicides in 2025 — the fewest since 2014.

Trump’s push to deploy the troops in Democrat-led cities has been met with legal challenges at nearly every turn.

The Supreme Court in December refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area. The order was not a final ruling but was a significant and rare setback by the high court for the president’s efforts.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on X Wednesday that Trump “lost in court when Illinois stood up against his attempt to militarize American cities with the National Guard. Now Trump is forced to stand down.”

Hundreds of troops from California and Oregon were deployed to Portland, but a federal judge barred them from going on the streets. A judge permanently blocked the deployment of National Guard troops there in November after a three-day trial.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Wednesday that her office had not yet received “official notification that the remaining federalized Oregon National Guard troops can return home. They were never lawfully deployed to Portland and there was no need for their presence. If President Trump has finally chosen to follow court orders and demobilize our troops, that’s a big win for Oregonians and for the rule of law.”

Trump's decision to federalize National Guard troops began in Los Angeles in June, when protesters took to the streets in response to a blitz of immigration arrests in the area. He deployed about 4,000 troops and 700 Marines to guard federal buildings and, later, to protest federal agents as they carried out immigration arrests.

The number of troops slowly dwindled until just several hundred were left. They were removed from the streets by Dec. 15 after a lower court ruling that also ordered control to be returned to Gov. Gavin Newsom. But an appeals court had paused the second part of the order, meaning control remained with Trump. In a Tuesday court filing, the Trump administration said it was no longer seeking a pause in that part of the order.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to return control of the National Guard to Newsom.

“About time (Trump) admitted defeat,” Newsom said in a social media post. “We’ve said it from day one: the federal takeover of California’s National Guard is illegal.”

Troops will remain on the ground in several other cities. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December paused a lower court ruling that had called for an end to the deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., where they’ve been deployed since August after Trump declared a “crime emergency.”

Trump also ordered the deployment of the Tennessee National Guard to Memphis in September as part of a larger federal task force to combat crime, a move supported by the state’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee and senators. A Tennessee judge blocked the use of the Guard, siding with Democratic state and local officials who sued. However, the judge stayed the decision to block the Guard as the state appeals, allowing the deployment to continue.

In New Orleans, about 350 National Guard troops deployed by Trump arrived in the city's historic French Quarter on Tuesday and are set to stay through Mardi Gras to help with safety. The state's Republican governor and the city's Democratic mayor support the deployment.

Ding reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press reporters John O'Connor in Springfield, Illinois, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, Jack Brook in New Orleans and Adrian Sanz in Memphis contributed.

FILE - A protester confronts a line of U.S. National Guard members in the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)

FILE - Protesters stand off against California National Guard soldiers at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, during a "No Kings" protest, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)