Since immigration enforcement ramped up during President Donald Trump’s second term, Florida has been one of the states feeling the brunt of the crackdown.<\/p>\n
Arrests in the state more than tripled, according to government data obtained through FOIA requests by the Deportation Data Project<\/a>. <\/p>\n In 2025, law enforcement made nearly 77 immigration-related arrests per day. A year earlier, the average was about 20 per day. <\/p>\n Immigration-related arrests in Florida came in at 20,629 between Jan. 20, 2025 and Oct. 15, 2025. <\/p>\n That’s about 10% of such arrests in the country. And, it puts Florida second only to Texas<\/a>, which had nearly a quarter of all immigration arrests.<\/p>\n About 2,922 of the arrests were made in the Tampa Bay Region. <\/p>\n ALSO READ: Immigration arrests are up nationwide. Here’s a look at Florida’s numbers<\/a><\/p>\n For the last year, WUSF has documented the growing intensity of immigration enforcement through personal stories and data<\/a>. <\/p>\n A Cuban woman in Tampa was in the process of applying for her green card when she was detained and deported<\/a>, leaving behind her husband and one-year-old daughter. <\/p>\n The detention of a 22-year-old from Sarasota began with a traffic stop and ended with her self-deportation to Mexico<\/a>. Her detainment was one of many being facilitated by local law enforcement that have entered into 287(g) agreements<\/a> with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). <\/p>\n