Under a cloudless sky and the blazing Florida sun, about 25 people gathered on a recent Sunday near the entrance of the Pinellas County jail, posting cardboard signs along the grass announcing that “ICE detains people here.”

Since last year, residents of this county have come here every weekend to protest the sheriff’s office’s ongoing cooperation with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of them waved an upside-down flag that occasionally billowed as cars zoomed by—some honked approvingly while another driver flicked her off before speeding away. They prayed for detained immigrants and shared the latest developments of immigration enforcement in Florida. During their gathering, a white transport van pulled into the jail’s entrance.

At the start of his second term, President Donald Trump issued an executive order urging local police to cooperate with ICE under so-called 287(g) agreements, which deputize local police and jails with immigration enforcement powers. Agencies can participate under different models of the program. Police, for example, can enforce immigration law during traffic stops, execute immigration warrants at jails, or interrogate people about their legal status. No state heeded Trump’s initial call with more enthusiasm than Florida. By April 2025, more than half of 287(g) agreements in the US were based in the Sunshine State.

After Texas, Florida has the largest number of agreements nationwide, according to ICE data. Under a law passed by the state’s Republican-led legislature last year, county detention facilities, like the one in Pinellas County, are required to enroll in the 287(g) program. And the law’s language—as many residents, immigrant advocates, and attorneys have pointed out in the last year—doesn’t specify that cities and their police departments must participate in 287(g).

But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration have pressured local officials to sign up. In Fort Myers, for instance, council members received a threatening letter from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier when their 3-3 deadlock vote prevented the city from entering into an ICE agreement. “This action constitutes a serious and direct violation of Florida Law,” he wrote in the letter. He cited a state law that bans “sanctuary policies.” “Failure to correct the Council’s actions will result in the enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including but not limited to being held in contempt, declaratory or injunctive relief, and removal from office by the Governor.” The city council ultimately approved the agreement.

Three months later, the Key West City Commission got the same message after it voted 6-1 to end its agreement. Besides the sanctuary policy ban, Uthmeier also referred to another law that directs police to “use best efforts” in supporting immigration enforcement. “We will not allow this unlawful sanctuary policy in Florida,” Uthmeier wrote on X at the time. “They have a choice: stop impeding law enforcement from enforcing immigration law or face the consequences.” Key West officials quickly reversed course.

Meanwhile, Floridians across the state—including in Miami, Tallahassee, Fort Myers, and Tampa—have called on their elected officials and police chiefs to stand up to DeSantis. They point to a recent court case in which the South Miami mayor asked a judge to clarify if the Florida law applied to cities. During oral arguments, attorneys representing the state acknowledged that South Miami was not violating the law if it declined to participate in 287(g) — as long as the city didn’t vote against an agreement (The issue had not appeared before the South Miami city council for a vote). Dozens of other cities have also not enrolled in the program.

I watched these tensions play out in Pinellas County, where grassroots organizations and residents have spoken up at city council meetings, protested outside the jail and the sheriff’s office, written letters to their elected officials, organized bus trips to vigils held outside the notorious Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention camp in the Everglades, and prayed for change in........

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