During a State Immigration Enforcement Council meeting last Tuesday, law enforcement leaders said they plan to send a letter to local agencies urging them to fully participate in their 287(g) agreements.
287(g) agreements are formal contracts between local law enforcement agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), allowing local officers and deputies to carry out basic immigration enforcement tasks.
Florida tops the nation when it comes to the number of 287(g) agreements, largely due to state law mandating participation from county sheriff's departments.
Police departments are not required to sign a 287(g) agreement, though many have done so amid state pressure.
But, council members said during the meeting that not enough agencies are fully compliant in this partnership.
Out of 394 total agencies in the state, 272 of them hold a 287(g) task force officer agreement, according to a summary provided by the council.
Among those with an agreement, 109 or 40% have not made a 287(g) arrest.
"Either you're doing it or you're not, and you know it's required, and people just need to do it," said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.
Gualtieri called it an "agency problem" after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed with ICE there was no backlog in agreements or officer credentialing.
Once agencies enter into an agreement, a number of officers are selected to complete training that would make them Designated Immigration Officers or DIOs.
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Law enforcement agencies may receive reimbursements for trained officers, equipment and vehicles.
However, local agencies can still refer individuals with outstanding immigration warrants to ICE even without trained officers.
A spokesperson for the St. Petersburg Police Department, which has not provided training to their officers, said when officers encounter someone with an outstanding warrant, they can request a nearby DIO to serve an ICE warrant.
If the DIO doesn't show up within an hour, the individual would be released.
If the officer is arresting an individual for a criminal charge, the jail, run by the sheriff's department, would take care of executing the ICE warrant, said the spokesperson.
According to the State Board of Immigration Enforcement Dashboard, the St. Pete Police Department has had 26 encounters with "suspected unauthorized aliens," since last August.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which oversees the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), has about 1,729 officers credentialed as DIOs — about 95% of the statewide agency.
The FHP reported more than 9,300 encounters since last August, according to the dashboard, more than any other agency in the state.
Since immigration enforcement has ramped up during Trump's second term, Florida has had the second highest number of immigration-related arrests in the country, according to the Deportation Data Project.
The data represents arrests from Jan. 20 to Oct. 15, 2025.
Leo Gonzalez is a member of the Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network. The group has spoken out at local council meetings, urging police to terminate their agreements with ICE.
"They lack any political courage, and that's what really bothers us," said Gonzalez.
An investigation by the nonprofit news organization Suncoast Searchlight found how local law enforcement is fueling ICE arrests in the state.
Under the second Trump administration, ICE arrests made through local Florida jails between Jan. 20 and July 29, 2025, more than tripled compared to the year before.
"We don't really see ICE in the same way that the rest of the country does, where ICE agents are very visible," said Gonzalez.
Oftentimes, local officers or state highway patrol will stop individuals for minor traffic infractions and find they are driving without a license. In Florida, those without legal status can't get a license.
That interaction could lead to an arrest and a stay in the county jail, where an ICE hold could be placed on them.
"I don't think we've ever used [287(g)] in this way," said Tampa immigration lawyer Ahmad Yakzan. "I think we have lost our 10th Amendment rights here in the state. It's becoming just 'Who can kiss the boots in D.C. harder.'"
Yakzan's law firm, American Dream Law Office, is based in Temple Terrace. He said cases in the last year and a half have ballooned so much, his team has expanded from three to 15 employees.
He's represented several clients who have gained permanent resident status through self-petitions under the Violence Against Women Act.
Yakzan said pushing local police to become de facto immigration agents discourages potential victims from calling on local law enforcement for help.
"How are you going to build trust with law enforcement if you're going to arrest the victims because they're immigrants?" said Yakzan. "If you're trying to make the community safer, go arrest the people who have serious crimes."
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