Florida Highway Patrol Starts Enforcing Federal Immigration Laws Fox News Exclusive Ride-Along

It is now possible for the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) to enforce federal immigration laws on state roads. Fox News was the only outlet to get an exclusive look at this ground-breaking attempt.

Florida is building a system that can be used all over the country, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who praised the effort as a model for the rest of the country. The state is the first to train and send out troopers under the federal 287(g) agreement. This deal lets certain state officers enforce immigration law with the help of federal agents.

During a recent ride-along with Fox News, cops stopped a car for a violation that quickly got worse. A man ran away when his legal standing was called into question.

It turned out that the suspect was hiding in a shed in the neighbourhood. The U.S. Border Patrol said he had been convicted of illegally possessing a firearm and attacking a police officer in the past.

This new power to implement the law is a big change from the old ones.

The head of the Florida Office of Highway Safety, Dave Kerner, said, “Every day, Florida Highway Patrol troopers would talk to people who were probably here illegally.” “But there was nothing that we could do as state law enforcement officers.”

That’s no longer true. At the moment, FHP is the only state body in the country that is trained and working under the 287(g) agreement. At one early morning stop, police clocked a van and trailer for going too fast. After a review, it was found that all 11 passengers did not have proper documentation and they were all detained right away.

Forty people had been arrested by morning on a single stretch of highway in Hillsborough County.

Immigration supporters have called the deal racial profiling, but Kerner says FHP has a legal reason to stop people on the road.

I know some people will not agree with what we’re doing, but we’re following through on a goal.” Because of that delegation of power, we are legally required and able to look into people’s standing in the United States. We do it in a skilled way. We do it, no doubt about it. “Our cars have cameras in them,” Kerner said.

According to DeSantis, the plan is already working, and he thinks it could be used as a model by other states that want to do their own immigration enforcement.

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