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Immigration Enforcement Operation Arrests 200 In Escambia, Other Panhandle Counties
August 23, 2025
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that a first-of-its kind law enforcement operation targeting illegal immigration, dubbed the Panhandle Immigration Enforcement Operation, resulted in the arret of nearly 200 people in Escambia and other Panhandle counties.
The operation led by the Florida Highway Patrol in coordination with federal partners at ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is part of a comprehensive, multi-agency immigration enforcement detail targeting those living in the country illegally with criminal records, fugitives, and repeat immigration violators.
“This week, a first-of-its-kind immigration enforcement operation started in Florida’s Panhandle, led by the Florida Highway Patrol in coordination with federal partners,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. ”The Panhandle Immigration Enforcement Operation has apprehended hundreds of illegal aliens—including fugitives with criminal records and repeat unlawful border crossers. Florida continues to deliver on the mandate to secure our interior and protect our citizens from the threat of illegal immigration.”
- 45 FHP troopers and 20 federal personnel carrying out enforcement across Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton, Okaloosa, Holmes, Bay, Washington, and Jackson counties.
- Nearly 200 people apprehended.
- 37 arrested who previously received final orders of removal and failed to appear in court.
- Eight apprehended who had been deported and reentered the United States—one of which had been deported four times. These individuals will be federally charged.
“The FHP Immigration Enforcement Unit has demonstrated unprecedented success in apprehending illegal aliens,” said Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner. “Working hand in hand with our federal partners, we are creating an enforcement model that can truly impact the illegal immigration crisis.”
Florida state troopers said they encountered persons who have fled, resisted arrest, and physically assaulted officers—underscoring the heightened danger posed by criminal illegal aliens.
Comments
19 Responses to “Immigration Enforcement Operation Arrests 200 In Escambia, Other Panhandle Counties”
Less than 1% of illegal aliens have anything to do with picking crops. They depress wages and cause housing to be unaffordable for young citizens. Ask some people with young family members if they can afford a house payment. Wake up Americans! Citizens count MORE THAN ILLEGAL day laborers. This is why unions succeed in many parts of the country.
I feel like this is the start of something quite awful. There are so many bad people that are citizens, what is this all about? Rounding up landscapers and roofers is insane, regardless of their legal status – before we lock them up in a camp? Send them to Uganda? I’m glad that around half of the comments are equally appalled. This has to stop, it is up to “we the people” to stop this. To think they’ll stop after we round up all the brown people is childish. Who’s next?
Now when a trooper looks down o pull over an illegal immigrant, it is in their best interest to run. They have nothing to lose. They will no longer report any crime or cooperate with authorities. I am all for removing criminals from out streets, but hard working folks have always been what has made America great. And throughout our history, they have been people who have not benefitted any other way other than the fruit of their labor. That has been what has made America great, people with nothing more than the willingness to take a terrible job to be in America. It has always been the trade we willingly made. Don’t criminalize people doing what has been done for centuries.
Julio, make no mistake its not the legal migrants their after.. its the ILLEGAL migrants. some of them are criminals too !
SOLUTION: let these “immigrants” get a green card to be here legally, hold taxes out of their paychecks like ours are taxed, no problem.
Yes, James, but I’m sure you weren’t doing the same kind of work that migrant laborers do, and if you were, it wasn’t a career. I’ve seen the way these men (and sometimes women) break their backs in the field. Whether or not it’s legal or correct, very few American people are willing to do the work that these folks do. Their tenacity is incredible. (I am not saying it’s correct to exploit these people, either)
Also, I’m very interested in what benefits illegal immigrants are widely receiving that isn’t emergency related. Maybe I’m a flaming liberal, but I absolutely do not care if my tax money helps someone who is hurt, even when I personally have to pay ~$80 copay just to see my PCP for a checkup.
Then you wonder why your grocery prices are going up
Who will do the work?
Yes times have changed, but between 11th and 12th grades I had to be persistent to find a job that paid $1.50/hr. After 12th grade I found a job that paid $1./hr. Both in construction, doing a grown man’s work.
No reason young people can not work when not in school or after school. Learn a trade, make more money over their life than spending money on worthless college degrees.
If they are not learning a trade for life at least they learn the relation between work and reward.
Many more reasons that America does not need people that start life here by breaking our laws, many!
@Taxpayer – so you support the illegals because they will work cheap and under the table? Who contribute nothing in taxes but still draw governmental assistance? Who pays their medical bills? Taxpayers do. Sounds an aweful lot like slavery to me.
I’m with Northender on this. Looks like 45 people needed to be picked up, what did the other 150 do? Good luck recovering from the next hurricane. Panhandle’s full of bigots and lousy drivers.
You know, I never see these illegal immigrants arrested for, well, anything half as bad as our locals. Hmm. I think I’d rather have Juan as a neighbor than a guy hoarding homemade explosives or a child abuser.
Ya’ll gonna be real upset when there’s no one to put on your roof, do your lawns or clean your houses. This country runs on immigrants. They’re the cheapest, most effective labor we can get. They work incredibly hard to be here, and anyone in the construction industry will tell you how the dread the day they have to hire American workers to do these jobs.
You want a quality roof at less than 20k? Hire the immigrant crew.
You want a bunch of drug addicts and alcoholics who don’t show up to work, break into your house for meth money, and still manage to soar that same roof cost to 40k? Hire the Americans.
But that’s OK. The second part of the plan is to put your 14 year Olds to work on those roofs.
Source – A contractor who does this all day, every day, and sees the quality and hard work of an immigrant.
Why are NONE of the Employers of illegal immigrants targeted by law enforcement? Every day on the news more roundups of workers, zero charges for those knowingly employing them. Money gets respect but Nothing else does with these pushing for deportations.
ICE should arrest the contractors who hire them first. THEY invite them and pay them peanuts to do the job while the contractors sit on their…hard hats.
You can report suspected immigration violations, including the presence of an undocumented worker, to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) via their tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-
866-347-2423).
excellen job!!!! now get the other thousands….try all the SRC+escambia construction+lawn companies < along with the Ross+TjMaxx+Sams+Bealls outlet just look for the ones with 4-5 men, 5 unruly children+and 1-2 women pushing 3-4 carts slammed packed with my tax dollars…while I watch our homeless veterans stand on street corners in the rain begging…..
Thank you all!
A Big thank you to our Governor and all of LE who protect us from Biden’s worse nightmare to the people of Florida and the country
Yeah, get the criminals out of here but honestly, I’m more worried about the red light runners, excessive speeders and theives stealing everything they can get their hands on than I am about Maricela who is cleaning the hotel rooms or Juan who is building the house up the street, or Miguel who is roofing my house, or Rosa who is picking strawberries.