PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — “Are you here legally?” is a question normally asked by federal agents while determining the legal status of an immigrant, but it is a question being increasingly asked by Florida police departments and sheriff’s offices, as they have joined forces with the Trump administration.
Florida law enforcement personnel have become integrated with U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement through the 287(g) program. The program gives local officers certain powers normally reserved for ICE agents, like arresting illegal aliens without needing to be part of an operation with their federal counterparts.
Blaze Media was with the Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday to see how the state’s largest law enforcement agency is helping the Trump administration follow through on mass deportations. FHP and other Florida law enforcement personnel who are part of the 287(g) program still carry out their normal patrol duties, and often, troopers will encounter illegal aliens during routine traffic stops.
RELATED: Alligator Alcatraz is a warning to illegal immigrants in the US: Leave now or end up here
Alligator Alcatraz is a warning to illegal immigrants in the US: Leave now or end up here Julio Rosas/Blaze Media
The reasons for the traffic stops range from observing drivers and passengers not wearing seatbelts to having unsecured loads in the backs of work trucks.
In one stop initiated by the FHP sergeant whom Blaze Media was with, the driver and one passenger of a work truck were not wearing seatbelts. The passenger in the middle, originally from Venezuela, had a seatbelt on, but his claim for asylum was no longer valid and he was taken into custody. The driver had a green card, and the other non-seatbelt-wearer was a U.S. citizen.
During another traffic stop, it was discovered that the driver was in the country unlawfully and did not have a license. While being put in the FHP squad car, the man joked about being sent to Alligator Alcatraz, the state-run illegal alien holding facility in the Everglades.
RELATED: Florida’s next phase to carry out mass deportations as feds say state’s efforts are the blueprint
The FHP team took 11 illegal immigrants into custody and transported them to a Border Patrol station for further processing. Some had been in the U.S. for only a few years, while others had been living here for over 20 years.
Florida currently leads the nation in the number of state and local police agencies that are part of the 287(g) program. It is state law for every level of government to do its best to aid federal immigration enforcement.
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