ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday held a news conference in Orlando to laud the Florida Highway Patrol’s ongoing role in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort and to announce a new FHP initiative for that purpose.
”Many of you remember Florida conducted a statewide operation, Operation Tidal Wave, in conjunction with our federal partners, and that led to the arrest of over 1,100 criminal illegal aliens in one week. That’s the largest number in a single state in one week in the entire history of ICE as an organization," DeSantis said. “(...) Now, to further combat the threat of illegal immigration, Florida Highway Patrol is establishing a new immigration unit — the Immigration Enforcement Section, within the Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence — to specialize in immigration enforcement. This team of mission-dedicated troopers troopers will work in close contact with local, state, and federal law-enforcement partners to identify, locate, and apprehend criminal aliens across the state."
DeSantis’ remarks came after days of discourse between Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. The spat stemmed from a letter sent by Uthmeier to Orange County leaders warning that they could face repercussions, such as removal from office, if they do not agree to a modified ICE agreement.
The addendum was to authorize Orange County corrections personnel to transport inmates with ICE detainers to ICE-approved facilities such as “Alligator Alcatraz.” Of issue to Demings was the matter of payment, as the mayor sought to secure a more favorable reimbursement rate from the federal government for housing detainees. Though News 6 is working to determine exact figures, Demings and other county officials have said that while it costs about $145 per day to house an inmate in the Orange County Jail, the federal government reimburses the county $88 of that cost for federal inmates.
Demings would end up signing the addendum early Friday.
Taking questions on the matter, DeSantis suggested that he would have suspended Demings if that hadn’t been the case.
“If you don’t meet your obligations under the law, if you don’t fulfill the duties that have been imposed upon you, you absolutely will be suspended. Now, I know the attorney general wrote him a letter, all this stuff. You know, the reality is, I just want to get it right. I just want to land the plane right, and so I’m glad it worked out that way, but this is just something that we’re watching,” DeSantis said.
The event took place at the Florida Highway Patrol Troop D headquarters on International Drive.
DeSantis was joined by Uthmeier, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, Florida AG Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner, Florida Highway Patrol Director Col. Gary Howze II, and Florida State Board of Immigration Enforcement Executive Director Larry Keefe, all of whom took turns speaking.
Watch the news conference again in the video player below or by clicking here.
[VIDEO BELOW: DeSantis defends ‘Alligator Alcatraz’]