More than 30 local law enforcement agencies across Florida are asking the state for millions in reimbursement for immigration-related costs.
Thirty-two agencies, both sheriff’s offices and police departments, have in total applied for approximately $10.4 million in grant funds to cover expenses for detention beds, transportation, bonuses and equipment, among other things, according to state records reviewed Sept. 29.
The sheriff’s offices in Lee County and St. John’s County are asking for the most money, requesting $1 million in funds each.
All the requests have been preliminarily OK’d by State Immigration Enforcement Council’s Executive Director Larry Keefe. Now, they awaiting final approval by the State Board of Immigration Enforcement at the next meeting of the Governor and Florida Cabinet on Sept. 30.
Days before that meeting, the federal government awarded state and local law enforcement agencies $38 million for their immigration efforts in what was called “historic funding.”
The funds, however, don’t make much of a dent in the more than $250 million it took to set up Alligator Alcatraz, which is expected to cost $450 million per year.
Local agencies will receive about $10 million out of the $38 million for their 287(g) efforts, the statutory reference for their partnership with the feds.
“We truly have a historic partnership, a partnership that we don’t see anywhere else nationwide, a partnership that has make it a priority to make sure that President Trump’s immigration policy and enforcement is enforced every single day,” said ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan at a Sept. 26 press conference.
Shortly after President Donald Trump took office, Florida allocated $250 million in grants to local law enforcement for programs that enforce immigration laws, with bonuses for officers who participate in operations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It was part of a package of bills passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis during a special session in the spring. The measures not only set aside money for immigration enforcement, but also increased penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes and created the State Immigration Enforcement Board and council within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Originally, the grants process did not allow local law enforcement agencies to apply for reimbursement for vehicles. But the State Immigration Enforcement Council carved out a narrow exception at its Sept. 2 meeting to allow designated Florida sheriff transportation agencies to purchase one multi-passenger van.
Approximately $1.8 million of the fund requests are for transportation, and another $1.78 million is for bonuses for both law enforcement officers and correctional officers.
Larry Keefe, pictured here in at an Operation Stolen Innocence press conference at the Tallahassee Police Department on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, is the executive director of the State Immigration Enforcement Council.
More costly are the requests for equipment – twelve out of the 32 agencies are asking for an estimated $2.8 million in funds. Escambia County is asking the most for equipment, about $875,000, for 65 portable radio packages and 10 portable license plate readers.
The largest portion of the reimbursement funds, $3.3 million, are for detention beds for ICE. Lee County is asking the most out of the 32 counties, $792,350.
Here’s how much money each of the 32 counties is asking the state for reimbursement (some counties known for long being Democratic strongholds, such as Gadsden and Leon, are not on the list):
Northwest Florida
Chattahoochee Police Department – $30,440.00 for Rapid ID devices and software to scan fingerprints.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office – $44,263.50 includes approximately $32,000 for transportation costs, $2,500 for ICE detention beds and a little under $10,000 for bonuses.
Walton County Sheriff’s Office – $648,805.00 includes $448,000 for ICE beds, $173,892.50 for transportation and the rest for bonuses.
Bay County Sheriff’s Office – $596,537.97 includes $319,104.15 for overtime costs and approximately another $40,000 for bonuses; $154,395.82 for transportation; $70,000 for ICE beds and another $14,000 for 287(g) training.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office – $963,307.85 includes $875,034.85 for 65 portable radio packages at $12,309.13 each and 10 license plate readers; the rest for bonuses.
Washington County Sheriff’s Office – $77,530.00 includes $16,000 to pay for assistance after normal duty hours; approximately $21,000 for bonuses; $40,000 for ICE beds.
Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office – $33,371.50 for bonuses.
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office – $103,825 includes $50,000 for 287(g) training and the rest for bonuses.
Marianna Police Department – $30,361.50 includes five Rapid ID devices to scan fingerprints; $7,535.50 in overtime and $4,306 in bonuses.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office – $190,949.46 includes approximately $136,000 for bonuses; $62,400 for ICE beds; $10,324.18 for transportation and $2,400 for cloud storage.
Franklin County Sheriff’s Office – $48,460.48 includes $37,695.48 for transportation and the rest for bonuses.
Madison County Sheriff’s Office – $246,571.94 includes $178,810.20 for transportation; $40,849.24 for six body cameras plus software, one fleet camera bundle, six duty belts and accessories, six handguns with accessories, six ballistic vests and one laptop to monitor the fleet camera footage; approximately $27,000 for bonuses.
In images released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, people are seen arrested in Florida as part of “Operation Tidal Wave,” a joint ICE-local law enforcement crackdown on undocumented immigrants in April 2025.
Northeast Florida
Columbia County Sheriff’s Office – $155,912.50 includes $129,000 for ICE bed space and the rest for bonuses.
Volusia County Sheriff’s Office – $334,262.30 includes approximately $221,000 for 70 Rapid ID fingerprint scanner and an unlimited data plan for the devices; the rest for bonuses.
Bradford County Sheriff’s Office – $25,683.00; Only $2,000 of those funds are for ICE beds, the rest are for bonuses.
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office – $725,874.50 includes $341,124 for AI software for 262 body cameras at $1,302 each; approximately $57,000 for mattresses and bunk beds; $86,700.00 for ICE beds; $18,186.00 for transportation; $178,503 for overtime and approximately $44,000 for bonuses.
St. Augustine Police Department – $37,311 includes $24,393 for overtime and the rest for bonuses.
St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office – $1,000,000 includes $840,216.50 for 75 Rapid ID devices, 23 license plate readers, six license plate reader mobile trailers and three small trailers with license plate readers.
Clay County Sheriff’s Office – $606,151.13 includes $364,442.32 for transportation; approximately $83,000 for bonuses; $75,738.31 for 287(g) training; $15,000 for ICE detention beds; and $66,080 for 20 Rapid ID devices with virtual private network access.
Central Florida
Orange County – $100,000 includes $50,481 for ICE detention beds and $49,519 for bonuses.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office – $941,511.50 includes $508,000 for ICE beds; approximately $390,000 for bonuses; and $42,742 for transportation.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office – $77,095 includes $44,800 for ICE beds and $32,295 for bonuses.
Alachua County Sheriff’s Office – $454,997.50 includes $315,000 for ICE beds; $96,176 for transportation; $16,147.50 for bonuses and $27,674 for 35 pairs of restraints, six Rapid ID devices plus software, and four ballistic vests.
Marion County Sheriff’s Office – $69,117 for transportation.
Hernando County Sheriff’s Office – $236,045.30 includes $163,638.30 for transportation; $40,907 for bonuses and $31,500 for ICE detention beds.
Sumter County Sheriff’s Office – $64,612 includes $56,000 for ICE beds and the rest for bonuses.
Southwest Florida
Lee County Sheriff’s Office – $1 million includes $792,350.00 for ICE bed space, and the remaining for transportation and bonuses.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office – $95,808.50 for bonuses.
Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office – $209,439.68 includes approximately $136,000 for bonuses; $62,400 for ICE beds and $10,324.18 for transportation.
Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office – $165,398 includes approximately $70,000 for bonuses; $68,000 for ICE beds and $27,425.50 for transportation.
City of North Port – $95,000 includes $43,060 for bonuses; $38,890 for transportation; and 13,050 for travel and lodging for officers participating in task force activities.
Southeast Florida
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office – $994,373.50 includes $530,000 for ICE beds and $235,686 for transportation; approximately $59,000 for bonuses; and $169,480 for 50 Rapid ID devices at $3,160 each plus software and data.
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida law enforcement agencies want millions for immigration costs