Nearly 800 arrested in Florida immigration crackdown
By: John Bacon
and Charles Whitehead
USA today Network
FORT MYERS, Florida - Almost 800 people have been arrested in the first few days of Operation Tidal Wave, a multi-agency immigration enforcement crackdown in Florida, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities announced.
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ICE called the effort a "first-of-its-kind partnership: involving state and federal agencies and local law enforcement. The agency, in a statement April 26, [2025] lauded local police agencies for providing "extraordinary support" for the crackdown that began April 21. [2025]
..... "This is a warning to all criminal illegal aliens: We're coming for you," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a soc la media post. "@HSgov, @ICEgov, and our state partners will hunt you down, arrest and deport you. that's a promise."
..... All 67 Florida county sheriffs already agreed to partner with UCE. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called Operation Tidal Wave an example of the "big result on immigration enforcement an deportations" that federal, state and local agencies can accomplish by working together.
..... Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said the operation was a "major success" and that more such crackdowns are planed in coming months.
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"Almost 800 aliens including MS-13 gang members, including convicted murders, rapists, all these people are now off our streets who have otherwise been acting with impunity and terrorizing U.S. communities," McLaughlin said on Fox News. "Your are going to be seeing this throughout the country."
..... Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in March [2025] hat he planned to investigate Fort Myers City council after it failed to agree to the partnership, calling the refusal "very troubling" - and illegal.
..... Representative Byron Donalds, a Trump-backed Republican gubernatorial hopeful whose district includes southwest Florida, said Council members who refused to go along with the ICE agreement should lose their jobs.
..... Governor Ron DeSantis also weighed in, writing that "Florida will ensure tis laws are followed, and when it comes to immigration - the days of inaction are over. Govern yourselves accordingly."
..... Days later, the council voted again and approved the ICE partnership. :Good Choice,: Uthmeier said in a social media post.
..... John Bacon writes for USA Today. charlies Whitehead writes for the Fort Myers News-Press.