Florida has led the nation in immigration arrests over the past year.[1] In particular, the Miami field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out roughly 36 percent more arrests than any other city, averaging about 120 arrests per day.[2] Given the repeated renewal of the state of emergency over so-called “illegal immigration,”[3] along with the harmful legislation championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration over the past two years,[4] Florida topping the list is hardly surprising. Rather, it reflects a broader pattern in how Florida approaches immigration enforcement, one that closely mirrors the state’s overall approach to public safety.
Florida’s Expanding Immigration Enforcement Measures
Over the past several years, Florida has significantly expanded its immigration enforcement efforts. Under the banner of a state of emergency — renewed more than a dozen times — the governor, with support from the Legislature, has advanced a series of sweeping and restrictive policies. These measures include: requiring many employers to use E-Verify to crack down on the hiring of undocumented workers; mandating that local law enforcement agencies enter into 287(g) agreements with ICE that effectively deputize officers to carry out federal immigration enforcement functions; enhancing criminal penalties for undocumented individuals; and eliminating in-state tuition at state colleges and universities for Dreamers[5] (undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and have grown up largely in this country).[6] Together, these actions have produced an aggressive enforcement landscape defined by expanded policing roles and increased arrests. While these efforts have been lauded by supporters, their effects have been deeply destabilizing. They have sparked fear for Florida’s immigrant communities, straining the social and economic fabric of the state and imposing significant financial burdens on local government budgets and resources.
Mirroring the ‘Tough on Crime’ Playbook
In many respects, Florida’s current immigration enforcement strategy reflects a familiar policy playbook drawn from its criminal justice system. Although most immigration violations are civil matters rather than criminal offenses,[7] the state’s approach in both areas has been shaped by a similar reliance on expanded policing authority, harsher penalties, and detention practices that too often disregard basic dignity. For decades, policymakers across the United States embraced “tough on crime” policies that positioned enforcement and punishment as the primary response to public safety concerns.[8] While these policies were frequently justified as necessary to maintain order, they contributed to a drastic rise in incarceration rates with little priority given to rehabilitation, prevention, or community care.
Over time, this “tough on crime” framework helped produce one of the highest incarceration rates in the world and a system in which roughly 60 percent of people released from prison are rearrested within three years.
In Florida, many of the defining policies of that era — such as the elimination of parole[9] and the “85 percent rule,” which requires most incarcerated people to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences, even for many nonviolent offenses[10] — remain in place. Over time, this “tough on crime” framework helped produce one of the highest incarceration rates in the world[11] and a system in which roughly 60 percent of people released from prison are rearrested within three years.[12]
Living Conditions: Prisons and Immigration Facilities
Immigration law is primarily governed at the federal level in the United States,[13] even as states such as Florida have increasingly adopted policies that expand their role in enforcement. Also, while immigration violations are largely civil matters, distinct from criminal offenses prosecuted through the criminal legal system, the conditions under which people are detained reveal troubling similarities. Florida’s prison system has long been plagued by poor living conditions, including the fact that roughly 24 percent of state prisons lack air conditioning,[14] and persistent concerns about inadequate medical care have led to numerous lawsuits against the Florida Department of Corrections.[15][16]
These conditions illustrate a broader pattern in how detention is administered in the state. Whether in prisons or immigration facilities, enforcement and confinement are frequently prioritized, while the dignity, safety, and basic well-being of those held in state custody too often remain secondary considerations.
Similar concerns have emerged from the state’s immigration detention infrastructure. At the Everglades facility widely known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” advocates and detainees have reported overcrowded cages inside tent structures, backed-up portable toilets, limited access to showers and clean water, and relentless mosquito infestations due to the swampy environment surrounding the site.[17] Reports have also described detainees being shackled for extended periods during transport and placed in outdoor metal cages for hours at a time, sometimes without adequate access to water. Investigations and human rights reports have further raised alarms about insufficient medical care and unsanitary conditions.[18]
These conditions illustrate a broader pattern in how detention is administered in the state. Whether in prisons or immigration facilities, enforcement and confinement are frequently prioritized, while the dignity, safety, and basic well-being of those held in state custody too often remain secondary considerations.
Taxpayers Bear the High Cost of Immigration Detention
Beyond the human toll, this enforcement-first model carries substantial financial costs that are borne by the state, county governments, and local jail systems tasked with carrying out expanded enforcement responsibilities. Reports indicate that it costs the state $1.2 million a day to operate Alligator Alcatraz.[19] An example of how these enforcement policies translate into local fiscal burdens for local government can be seen in Orange County, Florida. Under the 287(g) agreement, the Orange County jail system is one of the few authorized jails to hold ICE detainees. Consequently, it became an increasingly active site of immigration enforcement, with many arrests from neighboring counties such as Lake and Indian.[20]
Recent data from Orange County’s corrections system show that the average daily number of people detained on ICE holds without any local criminal charges rose from just nine individuals in December 2024 to roughly 92 by the end of 2025,[21] a more than 900 percent increase. This sizable increase carried tangible financial implications. The average daily number of individuals held on immigration detainers increased by roughly 83 individuals over the past year. According to county officials, it costs approximately $180 per detainee per day to house someone in the jail.[22] Even under a conservative assumption that individuals are held for only the standard 48-hour detainer period, the estimated costs for the additional 83 detainees would be roughly $29,880 per 48-hour cycle. Over the course of a year, the cost of detaining 83 people would rise to approximately $5.4 million in detention expenses alone, not accounting for other potential related expenses such as administrative costs, delayed pick-ups from ICE, and rebooking, which is a tactic ICE has relied on to reset the holding clock for detainees and prolong their detention in local jails. The common use of this loophole by federal agents has led Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings to warn the federal government he would refuse to house detainees who are being rebooked as a means to sidestep the standard hold. That warning ultimately led to the county modifying its existing agreement by restricting the length of stay of ICE detainees from 72 hours to 48 hours and specifying that only those with a criminal charge would be housed in Orange County’s facilities.[23]
Beyond the human toll, this enforcement-first model carries substantial financial costs that are borne by the state, county governments, and local jail systems tasked with carrying out expanded enforcement responsibilities.
Most of the costs for immigration detention are ultimately borne by local taxpayers. While the federal government does reimburse the county for daily detention expenses, the amount falls far short of what county officials have assessed. Under the current contract with Orange County, the federal government pays only $88 per day per person for immigration detention, even though the county estimates the true daily cost to be about $180. While Orange County represents just one jurisdiction, it offers a window into how Florida’s expanding immigration enforcement framework can haphazardly shift significant fiscal and operational burdens onto local governments and taxpayers across the state, often without a corresponding increase in resources.
Dignity, Policy, and the Health of the State
Florida’s position as the national leader in ICE arrests is the outcome of a series of aggressive, quickly implemented policies that have disrupted communities and generated measurable harms, leading some local sheriff’s offices to publicly criticize certain practices. These enforcement measures, while framed as addressing legal and public safety concerns, reveal a broader approach that consistently prioritizes speed and scale over attention to human impact. Across both criminal justice and immigration enforcement, this pattern reflects a limited regard for basic human dignity that has undermined the well-being of communities.
Notes
[1] McKenna Schueler, “ICE-Friendly Florida Leads Nation in Immigration Arrests,” Orlando Weekly, March 27, 2026, https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/immigration/ice-friendly-florida-leads-nation-in-immigration-arrests/.
[2] McKenna Schueler, “ICE-Friendly Florida Leads Nation in Immigration Arrests,” Orlando Weekly, March 27, 2026.
[3] Executive Office of the Governor, Executive Orders, March 24, 2026, https://www.flgov.com/eog/news/executive-orders.
[4] Mitch Perry and Jackie Llanos, “DeSantis Signs Immigration Bills Less Than an Hour After Lawmakers Passed Them,” Florida Phoenix, February 13, 2025, https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/02/13/florida-legislature-passes-immigration-bills-the-governor-is-expected-to-sign/.
[5] Mitch Perry and Jackie Llanos, “DeSantis Signs Immigration Bills Less Than an Hour After Lawmakers Passed Them,” Florida Phoenix, February 13, 2025.
[6] America’s Voice, “Immigration 101: What is a Dreamer? March 14, 2024,” https://americasvoice.org/blog/what-is-a-dreamer/.
[7] National Immigration Project, “Unauthorized Entry & Re-entry Prosecutions,” https://nipnlg.org/unauthorized-entry-re-entry-prosecutions.
[8] Etienne Benson, “Rehabilitate or Punish?” American Psychological Association, August 2003, https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug03/rehab#:~:text=Until%20the%20mid%2D1970s%2C%20rehabilitation,modest%20effect%20on%20crime%20rates.
[9] The Florida Timeline, “Criminal Justice Timeline,” https://www.floridatimeline.org/timeline/1983-elimination-of-parole/.
[10] Florida Department of Corrections, “Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Gaintime,” https://flcourts-media.flcourts.gov/content/download/242696/file/Johnson%2013-711(1).pdf.
[11] Prison Policy Initiative, “Florida Profile,” https://www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/FL.html.
[12] Florida Department of Corrections, “Florida Prison Recidivism Report: Releases from 2009 to 2021,” July 2024, p. 8, https://fdc-media.ccplatform.net/content/download/25944/file/FDC%20Recidivism%20Report%202019%20Cohort%20July%202024.pdf.
[13] Constitution Annotated, ArtI.S8.C18.8.1, Overview of Congress's Immigration Powers, https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S8-C18-8-1/ALDE_00001255/#ALDF_00015258.
[14] Department of Corrections, “Long Range Program Plan: Fiscal Years 2023-24 through 2027-28,” Florida Fiscal Portal, September 29, 2023, p. 73, http://floridafiscalportal.state.fl.us/Document.aspx?ID=28216&DocType=PDF.
[15] Florida Justice Institute, “FJI Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Florida Department of Corrections for Not Providing Hepatitis C Treatment,” https://fji.law/what-we-do/fji-files-class-action-lawsuit-against-florida-department-of-corrections-for-not-providing-hepatitis-c-treatment/#:~:text=Join%20the%20Fight-,FJI%20Files%20Class%20Action%20Lawsuit%20Against%20Florida%20Department%20of%20Corrections,to%20people%20incarcerated%20in%20Florida.%E2%80%9D.
[16] Florida Justice Institute, “Lawsuit Settled Over Inmate Health Care,” https://fji.law/newsroom/press-coverage/lawsuit-settled-inmate-health-care/#:~:text=The%20Florida%20Department%20of%20Corrections,Read%20the%20full%20article.
[17] Summer Brugal, “Inside Alligator Alcatraz: Report Documents Grim Conditions for Detainees," Axios Miami, July 9, 2025, https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2025/07/09/alligator-alcatraz-harsh-conditions-everglades.
[18] Amnesty International, “Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at Alligator Alcatraz and Krome in Florida,” December 4, 2025, pg. 33, https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Torture-and-Enforced-Disappearances-in-the-Sunshine-State-Human-Rights-Violations-at-Alligator-Alcatraz-and-Krome-in-Florida.pdf.
[19] Kate Payne, The Florida Trib, “New Records Show Florida Officials Burned More Than $1.2 Million Per Day on ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’" WGCU, March 2026, https://www.wgcu.org/investigation/2026-03-03/new-records-show-florida-officials-burned-more-than-1-2-million-per-day-on-alligator-alcatraz.
[20] Ryan Gillepsie, “Immigration Arrests Surge in Central Florida. Could They Max Out Orange’s Jail?” Orlando Sentinel, May 31, 2025, https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/05/31/immigration-arrests-surge-in-central-florida-could-they-max-out-oranges-jail/.
[21] Mike Valente, “Orange County: 380 inmates with ICE Detainers in County Jail Right Now,” ClickOrlando, January 20, 2026, https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/01/20/orange-county-380-inmates-with-ice-detainers-in-county-jail-right-now/.
[22] McKenna Schueler, “Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings Threatens to Cancel Agreement with ICE Over Costs,” Orlando Weekly, February 17, 2026, https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/immigration/orange-county-mayor-jerry-demings-threatens-to-cancel-agreement-with-ice-over-costs/.
[23] McKenna Schueler, Orange County Changes ICE Agreement, Limiting Detention in Local Jail, Orlando Weekly, June 5, 2026, https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/orlando-area-news/orange-county-changes-ice-agreement-limiting-detention-in-local-jail/.
