Nearly 800 people were arrested in Florida during the initial days of “Operation Tidal Wave,” a large-scale immigration enforcement effort jointly conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local law enforcement agencies, ICE officials confirmed.
The operation took place from April 21 through April 26. On the social media platform X, ICE said: “In a first-of-its-kind partnership between state and federal partners, ICE Miami and Florida law enforcement arrested nearly 800 illegal aliens this week during the first four days of #OperationTidalWave — a massive, multi-agency, immigration enforcement crackdown.”
“Operation Tidal Wave is a preview of what is to come around this country: large-scale operations that employ our state and local enforcement partners to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets,” President Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference Monday.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis commented on the effort Saturday, stating: “Operation Tidal Wave is an example of FL and DHS partnering to deliver big results on immigration enforcement and deportations. Florida is leading the nation in active cooperation with the Trump administration for immigration enforcement and deportation operations!”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem added in a post on social media: “This is a warning to all criminal illegal aliens: We’re coming for you. @DHSgov, @ICEgov, and our state partners will hunt you down, arrest and deport you. That’s a promise.”
The White House has set a national goal of removing 1 million people annually. On April 21, Trump posted on social media: “If we don’t get these criminals out of our country, we are not going to have a country any longer.”
Operation Tidal Wave was carried out in coordination with local sheriffs and police departments across Florida, utilizing ICE’s 287(g) authority, which permits local law enforcement to be deputized for federal immigration enforcement duties.
The operation targeted areas with high immigrant populations, including Miami-Dade and Broward counties, as well as the cities of Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Stuart, Tallahassee, and Fort Myers, according to records reviewed by the Miami Herald.
ICE has not released a list of individuals arrested or detained. However, Leavitt stated that “among those arrested were a Colombian murderer, alleged MS-13 and 18th Street gang members, and a Russian with a red notice for manslaughter.”
According to the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times, the records do not detail how targets were selected but indicate that authorities are seeking to detain “criminal individuals or immigration violators” who have final deportation orders.
Florida is home to a significant immigrant population, with around 4.5 million foreign-born individuals as of 2023, representing about 20% of the state’s total population. These immigrant communities come from a variety of Caribbean nations, including Cuba, Colombia, and Haiti.
Florida has the largest concentration of Cuban Americans in the U.S., with over 2 million residing in the state, including more than 1.2 million in Miami-Dade County alone. It also boasts the largest Colombian American population, with around 826,000 individuals. Additionally, Florida is home to the largest number of Haitian Americans in the U.S., particularly in South Florida.
