In the first coordinated operation between U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security launched a large-scale operation in Florida to find and detain about 800 undocumented immigrants, according to a report from the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald.
The effort, nicknamed "Operation Tidal Wave," targets people in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and the cities of Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Stuart, Tallahassee and Fort Myers, according to records seen by the Herald. All of them are areas with high immigrant populations.
"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 media sources said.
In its first four days, the operation led to about 800 arrests of undocumented immigrants, according to ICE, which posted on X that the "first-of-its-kind partnership between state and federal partners" represented "a massive, multi-agency, immigration enforcement crackdown."
"Florida is leading the nation in active cooperation with the Trump administration for immigration enforcement and deportation operations!" DeSantis wrote on X.
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