Immigration & Border Security

Florida Made Nearly 20,000 Immigration Arrests in 2025

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans for third deportation site—the ‘Panhandle Pokey.’
Florida Made Nearly 20,000 Immigration Arrests in 2025
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (L) reveals the state's latest immigration enforcement efforts at a press conference at Deportation Depot in Sanderson on Jan. 5, 2026. Natasha Holt for The Epoch Times
T.J. Muscaro
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Nearly 20,000 immigration arrests were made in Florida in 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced during a Jan. 5 press conference highlighting his state’s immigration enforcement standards.

Of that total number, 10,000 arrests were made as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Tidal Wave, and 7,674 were taken into custody by Florida’s highway patrol officers.

T.J. Muscaro
T.J. Muscaro
Author
T.J. Muscaro is an award-winning reporter and NASA Correspondent for The Epoch Times, covering the Artemis program, Space Force, and other public and private ambitions within the growing space industry. Based in Tampa, Florida, he also covers stories of extreme weather and disaster relief, as well as various matters of national and international politics.