ICE arrested 10,000 people over five days this month, according to NBC News. South Florida immigration attorneys say they are noticing a shift in how federal and local law enforcement are carrying out immigration arrests. 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 office is seeing more detained cases and more traffic-related detentions that result in immigration detention. Castro said the approach under Noem was markedly different, with a lot of arrests without a warrant and a big spectacle overall. Castro said immigration attorneys previously questioned the legality of many detentions carried out during Noem's tenure, but she does not have those same questions about the current approach. 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.