A DHS police officer outside of the Hilton in Pinellas County
Hillsborough County agencies are receiving thousands of dollars from Florida’s government to support immigration enforcement. It might not be paying off.
Tampa and Plant City’s police departments got a combined $700,000 in state funds to conduct arrests on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. So far, neither agency has reported any immigration arrests to the state.
Florida’s State Board of Immigration Enforcement—made up of Gov. Ron DeSantis and his cabinet—awards grants to agencies that train their officers to enforce federal immigration law under the 287(g) program.
The board approved $430,000 for the Tampa Police Department and $270,000 dollars for Plant City.
The approvals often take place with no discussion between members of the board. The board’s Oct. 28, 2025, meeting lasted two minutes, with grant approval taking less than a minute.
DeSantis concluded the meeting by saying, “Thanks for all your hard work, guys.”
Both departments recorded a small number of “suspected unauthorized alien encounters,” which they are required to report to the state. That could be any situation where an officer is unable to verify the immigration status of a stopped individual.
Of those encounters, 32 in Tampa and 24 in Plant City ended in arrests. But those were arrests on state criminal charges that would have been made regardless of the 287(g) agreement.
Anyone arrested on criminal charges with an ICE detainer will be reported to ICE when they’re booked in jail whether or not the local police are signed on to 287(g) agreements.
Neither department recorded any arrests under federal immigration authority.
They aren’t the only police departments in the state getting big bucks for small figures. A recent report from the Wall Street Journal showed the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office was eligible for nearly $15 million in federal funding—separate from the state grants—for just seven immigration arrests.
The money went to overtime and controversial AI software
TPD used their funding for bonuses and overtime.
The Plant City Police Department used the state immigration enforcement grant to purchase Peregrine, a controversial AI-powered policing software. They said it would streamline their operations, enabling better collaboration with ICE.
Peregrine combines multiple police databases and uses AI to draw connections between the data, often advertising itself as “supercharging” ordinary police work. Critics say the technology could amplify biases and violate privacy.
The nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice released a report on Peregrine and similar tools that says robust safeguards are needed for any AI software used to link databases.
“While these data sharing capabilities may be a boon to police departments, the easy access to massive troves of data and ability to repurpose sensitive information far beyond the purpose for which it was initially collected can also facilitate intrusive searches and misuse of data for non–law enforcement purposes,” the report reads.
Peregrine was started by a former employee of Palantir, a company that creates software for ICE and other military and law enforcement purposes.
Tampa City Council will consider accepting a grant for the software this Thursday.
At the September 17, 2026, meeting, council member Luis Viera asked if Peregrine would be connected to ICE at all. When a police representative said no, council member Alan Clendenin said he didn’t think that was accurate.
“If this is data compilation, and we are obligated through 287(g) for cooperation, how can you honestly say that it’s not a possibility?” Clendenin said.