South Florida immigration attorneys are observing a significant shift in how federal and local law enforcement conduct immigration arrests, with fewer high-profile raids and more traffic-related detentions. The change appears to coincide with Markwayne Mullin replacing Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary in March.
Renata Castro, an immigration attorney based in Coral Springs, said her firm is seeing more detained cases. Castro said the approach now involves more traffic-related detentions that result in immigration custody. Under Noem's tenure, Castro said attorneys witnessed many arrests without warrants that created public spectacles. Immigration attorneys previously questioned the legality of many detentions carried out during that period.
Castro said she does not have the same legal concerns about the current approach. The arrests still occur without warrants but follow safeguards that local law enforcement must observe under the law, which Castro attributes to the uptick in detention numbers. According to NBC News, ICE arrested 10,000 people over five days this month.
According to data kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 24 immigration arrests were conducted in Martin County on Tuesday. The Martin County Sheriff's Office confirmed FDLE was the agency behind the arrests. WPTV has reached out to ICE and FDLE for comment.