BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Barely 20 minutes into their shift with Operation Stonegarden, deputies with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office called for the waiting U.S. Border Patrol agents to come to their traffic stop to confirm that they had encountered an illegal immigrant.
Operation Stonegarden has been an ongoing program that allows local law enforcement to work with federal immigration agencies to find and arrest illegal immigrants. With new laws on the books, sheriff’s offices across the state are taking full advantage of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ call for Florida to be the number-one partner of the Trump administration in cracking down on illegal immigration.
In stark contrast to the Biden-Harris administration, Border Patrol made it clear that while agents would like to take in illegal aliens with criminal histories first due to capacity issues, anyone who is not authorized to be in the U.S. could be arrested.
Brevard sheriff’s deputies pulled over a landscaping truck for traffic violations. After deputies asked for identification, three people provided valid work permits, but one Mexican national provided only his Mexican voter ID card. When Border Patrol agents arrived and talked with him, he admitted to being in the U.S. illegally. Just like that, he was taken into custody.
‘I think that the overall achievement of this makes Brevard County a safer place.’
Almost 20 minutes later, deputies pulled over another work truck for traffic violations. This time, they discovered that all four occupants in the truck were illegal aliens. One had a criminal record, and another, when asked for identification, provided his warrant for deportation. Everyone in the truck was taken into federal custody. A tow truck had to be called in for the work truck since there was no one left to drive it.
In another case, a Colombian national who did not have a valid driver’s license and had overstayed his visa was taken into Brevard County’s custody, so Border Patrol did not reach its limit for the day. Border Patrol agents were looking to fill the van they had brought. Once it was full, the operation would be over for the day.
Even though the sheriff’s office took the Colombian into custody, Border Patrol was able to put a detainer on him, and since Florida does not have sanctuary counties or cities, Brevard County will honor the detainer.
Over two hours into the operation, the van was full. Border Patrol agents took nine illegal immigrants back to Orlando to be processed for deportation.
Wednesday’s operation consisted of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, and Border Patrol. Throughout the state, agencies such the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations so that the Trump administration can beef up deportation numbers.
Sgt. Jason West told Blaze Media that operations like the one from this week will continue in Brevard County because removing public safety threats makes the county and the whole state safer.
“We are removing individuals from our society that are not here legally to begin with and haven’t taken the steps to go through that process legally. I think that the overall achievement of this makes Brevard County a safer place,” he said.
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Politics, Immigration, Illegal immigration, Ice
