A report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reveals that the Miami Police is the agency in Miami-Dade County with the highest number of migrants detained under the 287(g) agreements with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and that Cubans constitute the largest group among those arrested.
The document covers the period from August 2025 to August 23, 2026, during which 15,000 migrants were arrested across the state of Florida under these agreements.
In the city of Miami alone, the number reached 451 arrests, of which 131—about 29% of the total—are individuals of Cuban origin.
The state report specifies that the detainees are facing federal charges for immigration violations or have committed some criminal offense.
35% of those arrests occurred after the election of Democratic Mayor Eileen Higgins, who has publicly opposed the local police acting as an immigration enforcement arm.
In December, he openly criticized the aforementioned agreement 287(g) that had been signed earlier by the city of Miami and federal immigration authorities, which allows local police to act as ICE agents.
"There is no reason for our Police Department in the city of Miami to carry out the work of federal immigration authorities," he stated at that time.
Higgins promised that under the leadership of his new police chief, sworn in June, “everyone in this city - regardless of their immigration status - will be treated with dignity, respect, and humanity.” Official statistics contradict that stance.
At the helm of the Department is the Cuban-American Edwin López, who further stated that his priority "is not to enforce anything related to immigration", although he acknowledged that he must assess the current agreements.
Within Miami-Dade County, the second agency with the most arrests is the Sheriff’s Office, with 256 detainees. The Hialeah Police Department reports only nine arrests under these agreements.
Several police agencies from different cities, such as Alachua and Aventura, as well as the FIU Police Department and the Miami-Dade Public Schools Police, do not report any migrant arrests.
At the state level, the agency with the most arrests is the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), with 8,986 detentions during the analyzed period. The Broward County Sheriff's Office reports only 30.
The 287(g) program allows local and state authorities to collaborate with ICE in the identification, questioning, and transfer of individuals suspected of violating immigration laws, after receiving federal training. The city of Miami approved its 287(g) agreement in June 2025.
The arrests by ICE of Cuban citizens skyrocketed by 463% between late 2024 and early 2026, according to an analysis by the Cato Institute.
The ICE office in Miami has led immigration arrests nationwide, with an average of 120 arrests per day and more than 41,310 detentions between January 2025 and April 2026.
In July, ICE processed nearly 6,000 people in detention centers in the Miami area.
Related videos:
Filed under: