South Florida immigration attorneys say they are noticing a shift in how federal and local law enforcement are carrying out immigration arrests, with fewer high-profile raids that spark public outrage and raise legal concerns. The change appears to coincide with Markwayne Mullin replacing Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary in March. 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 confirms FDLE was the agency behind the arrests.
Renata Castro, an immigration attorney based in Coral Springs, said she has seen the shift firsthand. Castro said she has seen more detained cases across her desk and more traffic-related detentions resulting in immigration detention. Castro said the approach under Noem was markedly different. Castro said what they saw during Noem's term was a lot of arrests without a warrant and just a big spectacle overall. Immigration attorneys previously questioned the legality of many detentions carried out during Noem's tenure. Castro said she does not have those same questions about the current approach.
Castro said these are arrests without warrants, but still following the safeguards that the law requires, particularly for local law enforcement, and that is why there is an uptick in detention numbers. According to NBC News, ICE arrested 10,000 people over five days this month. The increased numbers appear to reflect a change in enforcement tactics rather than a decrease in overall immigration enforcement activity.
WPTV has reached out to ICE and FDLE for comment and will update this story when they respond. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has not provided additional details about the 24 arrests conducted in Martin County on Tuesday or the circumstances surrounding those detentions.