The Florida Cops Who Act as ICE Agents

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Florida Cops Who Act as ICE Agents

Podcast: The Journal.
Hosts: Jessica Mendoza & Ryan Knutson
Reporter: Ariane Campo Flores
Date: September 22, 2025
Produced by: The Wall Street Journal & Spotify Studios

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Episode Overview

This episode explores how Florida state troopers are increasingly acting as immigration enforcement agents under a federal program known as 287(g), which deputizes local law enforcement to carry out certain duties typically reserved for ICE. Reporter Ariane Campo Flores takes listeners on a ride-along with the Florida Highway Patrol as they participate in this initiative, providing firsthand accounts of how routine traffic stops can escalate into immigration arrests. The episode examines the political, social, and operational implications of this policy expansion and Florida’s role as a national leader in state-level immigration enforcement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A New Kind of Ride-Along

• Ariane's Experience: Ariane Campo Flores describes riding with Master Sergeant Tony Kingery through Lake Worth, Florida, noting this was not her typical police ride-along. Instead of targeting drugs or gangs, troopers hunted for undocumented immigrants.
  • Quote (Ariane Campo Flores, 00:28): “I honestly didn't know what to expect. I've never done a ride along of this nature before.”

2. A Traffic Stop, Escalated

• The Stop: The narrative follows Kingery stopping a white van for minor equipment violations (missing bumper, broken taillight), which quickly escalates when the driver presents a Guatemalan consular ID rather than a U.S. license.
  • Quote (Sergeant Tony Kingery, 01:11): “It doesn’t have a front bumper, which is illegal in the state of Florida. You have to have a front bumper.”
• Shift in Protocol: Asking about citizenship status is no longer unusual during stops, as enabled by new policies.
  • Quote (Narrator/Jessica Mendoza, 02:12): “The driver and his passenger both ended up in handcuffs on suspicion they were in the country illegally. This quick escalation...was made possible by a federal program...”

3. Inside 287(g): The Legal Backdrop

• Program Origin: 287(g) comes from a late-1990s federal law, designed to allow state/local police to perform some ICE duties.
  • Growth and contraction of the program has shifted with presidential administrations (Bush: expansion; Obama: contraction; Trump: renewed expansion, especially with the “task force” model).
  • Quote (Ariane Campo Flores, 04:44): “That program 287 has gone through a lot of iterations depending on which administration has been in power...”
• Trump’s Second Term: The return of the 287(g) task force model broadens police authority on immigration matters.
  • Quote (Sergeant Tony Kingery/Trump campaign, 06:05): "Immediately upon taking the oath of office, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history."

4. Florida as National Test Case

• Big Investments: Florida devotes almost $300 million to immigration enforcement, builds a new detention center ("Alligator Alcatraz"), and leads the nation in 287(g) agreements.
  • Quote (Ariane Campo Flores, 07:19): “Florida is the leader. It's the leading state in striking 287.”

5. Civil Liberties Concerns & Community Impact

• Risk of Racial Profiling: Critics argue the program leads to discriminatory stops and erodes trust.
  • Quote (Ariane Campo Flores, 08:15): "The criticism is that it is a recipe for racial profiling...to actually further this deportation agenda."
• Resource Diversion: Concerns are raised that police are pulled away from traditional duties (traffic, public safety) to focus on immigration tasks.
• Training Questions: ICE claims oversight is robust, but critics question if a week’s training is enough for complex duties.

6. Ride-Along: On-the-Ground Operation

• Multi-Agency Tasking: Briefing included 10 troopers, supervisors, helicopter, ICE, and Border Patrol. Focus was on “saturation” patrols in areas with high presumed numbers of undocumented immigrants.
  • Quote (Sergeant Tony Kingery, 11:34): “Look for those vehicles that could possibly have a large amount of illegals in that vehicle. Stop those cars.”
• Strategy: Troopers were told to make “good traffic stops” (for bona fide violations) but with an eye toward possible immigration detentions.
• Process: ICE agents on the scene could quickly check names in federal databases (13:00).

7. The White Van: Human Stories

• Driver’s Situation: The 28-year-old Guatemalan driver had past convictions and an open immigration case. He pleaded emotionally for a chance to call his child, became visibly distraught, and eventually retched from anxiety.
  • Quote (Ariane Campo Flores, 14:12): “He repeatedly said in Spanish, I have a baby son at home. Please let me call home...He at one point crouched down and just started retching.”
• Passenger’s Plea: The 18-year-old passenger insisted he was a student, denied being in the country illegally, and asked officers not to start deportation; both men were loaded into a trooper’s pickup truck with zip ties.

8. An Unexpected Twist: The Escape

• Break for Freedom: En route to Border Patrol, both detainees escaped after troopers failed to engage child locks. A helicopter assisted in a search, but both men disappeared.
  • Quote (Ariane Campo Flores, 15:29): “The child locks were not engaged on the back doors, and so they bolted out of the car...That then initiates, essentially, a manhunt...”

9. Counting the Cost, Measuring Success

• Operation Results: 23 people detained that day (not counting the escapees). The Highway Patrol’s executive director summed it up: “You win some, you lose some.” (16:19)
• Resource Allocation: Ariane raises questions about whether this dual mission is sustainable for law enforcement; supporters argue increased arrests show effectiveness.
• Stats: Florida’s Highway Patrol has over 3,500 apprehensions related to immigration (17:27).
• National Implications: The Trump administration hopes to train 20,000 officers nationwide in ICE duties. Florida’s model could become the template for other states.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Are you a U.S. Citizen?” – Sergeant Tony Kingery, using the authority given by 287(g) (02:04)
• “The criticism is that it is a recipe for racial profiling, that it encourages officers to use the pretext of a traffic stop to actually further this deportation agenda.” – Ariane Campo Flores (08:15)
• “The child locks were not engaged on the back doors, and so they bolted out of the car...That then initiates, essentially, a manhunt for these two individuals who had escaped.” – Ariane Campo Flores (15:29)
• “You win some, you lose some.” – Florida Highway Patrol executive director, summing up operation results (16:19)
• “If there are jurisdictions and there are states that decide that this is a policy that they want to pursue, they can look at Florida as a potential model of how to go about doing that.” – Ariane Campo Flores (18:10)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:33 – 02:00: Ariane's ride-along and escalation of a traffic stop
• 04:21 – 06:05: Background and expansion of the 287(g) program
• 07:19 – 08:42: Florida’s leadership and civil liberties concerns
• 11:06 – 13:45: Live operation: saturation patrol, multiple detentions
• 13:46 – 14:56: Human cost: the driver and passenger's emotional pleas
• 15:13 – 16:07: The detainees' escape and ensuing manhunt
• 16:52 – 18:10: Implications for law enforcement and the expansion of 287(g)

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Episode Takeaways

• Florida is the central test case for the blending of local police work and federal immigration enforcement, with significant investments and a rapidly expanding program.
• The 287(g) task force model allows for traffic stops to potentially lead to deportation—a process with high stakes and, at times, painful human drama.
• Critics worry about racial profiling, resource allocation, and the broader social consequences of merging local policing with federal immigration enforcement.
• The mass deputization of officers could create lasting changes in American law enforcement and immigration policy, with Florida serving as a model for other states to follow—or resist.

This episode provides an in-depth, on-the-ground look at a controversial law enforcement trend, raising fundamental questions about the priorities, impacts, and ethics of blending police work with immigration control.

Transcript

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

Looks like six. Charlie, Mike.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Our colleague Ariane Campo Flores, who covers Florida, has been on plenty of police ride alongs before. Drug busts, gang investigations, routine patrols. But this one in Lake Worth, Florida, this one was different.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

I honestly didn't know what to expect. I've never done a ride along of this nature before.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Arian rode along with Master Sergeant Tony Kingery of Florida Highway Patrol. You know those state troopers with the wide brimmed hats and khaki uniforms, the officers who might ticket you for speeding? Except on this day in July, Sergeant Kingery was keeping an eye out for something else. Undocumented immigrants.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

So at one point, we were driving through this commercial district and then he noticed a white van.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

So there's a van over. He ain't gonna go now.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

A white van missing a bumper, a clear violation of traffic law.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

It doesn't have a front bumper, which is illegal in the state of Florida. You have to have a front bumper.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

And so Sergeant Kingry then pulled another U turn to get behind him. And that's when he also noticed that the van was missing a rear tail light. And he, you know, flashed his siren and so he decided to pull it.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Kingery walked up to the driver and told him about the missing bumper and broken tail light.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

The back light's broke.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

He also asked the driver for his license.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

And that's when the traffic stop became more than just a traffic stop.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

The guy behind the wheel didn't speak English. And instead of producing a license, the driver handed over a Guatemalan consular id.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

And so at that point, Sergeant Kingry asks him, sir, are you a US Citizen? Are you a US Citizen?

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

That question isn't something you'd necessarily expect during a routine traffic stop, but that's changing. The driver and his passenger both ended up in handcuffs on suspicion they were in the country illegally. This quick escalation from broken bumper to immigration arrest was made possible by a federal program that grants immigration enforcement powers to state and local police. And Florida is leading the way. Welcome to the Journal, our show about money, business and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Monday, September 22nd. Coming up on the show, when state troopers enforce immigration law.

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[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Payment of 45 do for 3 month plan $15 per month equivalent required new customer offer first 3 months only then full price plan options available Taxes and fees extra. See mint mobile.com so how does a routine traffic stop on a Florida highway end with people in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement? The answer lies in a Federal program called 287G.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

287G the 287G program, a controversial program.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Called 287287 basically authorizes state and local officers to perform some immigration enforcement duties under ICE supervision. The idea was to partner with ICE to expand the agency's reach. How did this program 287G? How did it come about?

[Ariane Campo Flores]

So 287 got its name from this provision of federal law, a law that was passed in the late 1990s.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

I signed a presidential directive to the.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

Heads of all executive departments that allowed for federal immigration agencies to deputize state and local law enforcement to carry out certain immigration related functions, instructing them to very quickly expand and strengthen our program to reduce illegal immigration. And that program 287 has gone through a lot of iterations depending on which administration has been in power. So, for instance, under the George W. Bush administration, that program expanded. Under the Obama administration, it shrank. Under the first Trump administration, it grew again.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

When Trump was elected a second time, he revived a controversial form of 287 called the task force model. That's the model that lets police act almost like ICE agents while they're going about their usual law enforcement duties. So things like checking immigration status during a traffic stop, detaining people they think are here illegally, and handing them over for processing. Reviving this part of 287 would go towards achieving one of Trump's key campaign promises.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

Immediately upon taking the oath of office, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

The Trump administration, as part of its broader illegal immigration crackdown, has made clear that it would like to have the support of state and local law enforcement to act as what they term force multipliers in immigration enforcement operations.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

What's the goal here? Like when you talk about force multipliers, what does that mean?

[Ariane Campo Flores]

The goal here is basically to enhance the capabilities of ice. Really, the thrust here is just to have more personnel available, more resources available, more vehicles out on the roads, more traffic stops, and more encounters with potential undocumented immigrants.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

And so far, no state has embraced Trump's illegal immigration crackdown as forcefully as Florida. The Sunshine State this year allocated nearly $300 million into immigration enforcement work. It also built an immigration detention center in the Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, a fortress like compound rising from the wetlands. Now the state is going all in on 287G.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

Florida is the leader. It's the leading state in striking 287.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Agreements with ICE across America. There are about 500 task force agreements under 287. And of those agreements, more than half.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

Of those are Florida agencies, whether they be at the state level or local police and the Florida Highway Patrol specifically. Of the roughly 1800 troopers that the Florida Highway Patrol has, nearly all of them have undergone the training and have achieved the designation of designated immigration officers. Dios.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

But while Florida is leaning in, civil liberties groups and advocates for immigrant rights are raising alarms.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

These are our neighbors, not criminals, murderers or rapists.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

287 has no place here. We are the people.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

The criticism is that it is a recipe for racial profiling, that it encourages officers to use the pretext of a traffic stop to actually further this deportation agenda.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

Immigrants are welcome here.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Say it loud.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

When they're asking me for my papers and they're not asking you for your papers, then they're making that determination on their own.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

And that Critics like the ACLU also argue that 287 pulls local police away from their usual work stuff like traffic safety, crash scenes and neighborhood patrols. In this new system, how does oversight work?

[Ariane Campo Flores]

Ice Immigration and Customs Enforcement told us in the head of their Miami field office that this is all done under their supervision because ICE and Border Patrol have undergone significant training to actually carry out immigration enforcement duties. You're not going to be able to learn all of the complexities of how to do that with one week of training.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Meanwhile, the Trump administration sees the program as an important tool for expanding its immigration crackdown.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

And I wanted to see how it was being used. And so I was just really curious to be able to see firsthand how this was being put into practice. You know, what did this look like?

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

We'll go ahead and duck the traffic stop on it and check it out.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

After the break. The rest of Arian's ride along with Florida Highway Patrol.

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[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

Today's Dave we're going to be doing some saturation patrols here in Palm Beach County.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

The morning of Arjan's ride along, he sat in on a pre operation briefing. That day's deployment included 10 troopers, several supervisors, helicopter support, two federal officers from ICE, and a Border Patrol agent. Sergeant Tony Kingery instructed the troopers. He's the officer Aryan would end up riding along with.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

Look for those vehicles that could possibly have a large amount of illegals in that vehicle. Stop those cars.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

So he wanted them to focus on this one particular geographic area that straddles both sides of Interstate 95. It was an area he said was believed to be saturated, in his words, with undocumented immigrants.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

We have a pretty high area that's saturated with possible illegals in those areas.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

He said that the troopers should go out and make what he called good traffic stops.

[Sergeant Tony Kingery]

Stop those cars for good violations. Traffic violations.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

And if that then led to the potential apprehension of an undocumented immigrant, sort.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Of, so be it.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

So be it. That was sort of the point of the operation.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

And so that was before the ride along. When you did go on the streets with Sergeant Kingery, you know, what did you see?

[Ariane Campo Flores]

Yeah, I got sort of a sampling of, of what stops they made. So for instance, one stop was of a pickup truck that was towing a trailer. The trailer was missing its license plate, which it's required to have. And so the trooper pulled the vehicle.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Over, an officer stopped the driver and questioned him. He was suspected of being in the country illegally and detained. ICE agents were also on hand with laptops connected to federal databases.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

Those ICE officers can then pull up, get the person's name, run them through their databases, and then get information as to whether, you know they maybe missed a court hearing or they were previously deported and re entered.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

In less than an hour, state troopers had stopped several vehicles and detained several people they suspected of being in the country illegally. It went on like this throughout the morning. The officers pulled folks over for traffic violations, including one passenger who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and detained suspected undocumented immigrants. Several of the detainees were dressed in fluorescent green shirts bearing the name of a lawn service company. It was later on in the day that Sergeant Kingery encountered that white van, the one we told you about at the start of the episode with the missing bumper and broken taillight.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

So the driver and the passenger were both Guatemalan immigrants. In the driver's case, he was 28 years old. He had had a conviction for driving under the influence. He had suspended driving privileges, and he had also been given a notice to appear in court that had been issued by Border Patrol.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

How did the driver react to this encounter with Sergeant Kingery?

[Ariane Campo Flores]

As more troopers arrived and the ICE officers arrived and the situation became clearly more serious for him, he repeatedly said in Spanish, I have a baby son at home. Please let me call home to talk to my baby son. He at one point crouched down and just started retching. His face got really red, and he just looked like a ball of nerves, very distraught.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

The passenger in the van said he was 18 years old and attending school. He pleaded with officers not to initiate deportation proceedings against him and denied that he was in the country illegally. Their protests didn't work. The officers led both men to another vehicle.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

They removed their handcuffs and put them in zip ties that were provided by the ICE agents, and they loaded them onto the back of this pickup to head toward this Border Patrol station, where they would then be processed.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

The two detainees never made it there. Fifteen minutes after the pickup truck left, Sergeant Kingry's radio crackled with an update. The two men had escaped. Apparently when the trooper's vehicle stopped at an interstate exit.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

The child locks were not engaged on the back doors, and so they bolted out of the car, took off running, went through, like, a car dealership and on through this area where there was warehouses and there was a parking lot full of school buses and other facilities. And that then initiates, essentially, a manhunt for these two individuals who had escaped. The Florida Highway Patrol helicopter was circling overhead, but after significantly more than an hour, they just called it and they moved on.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

By the end of the day, Florida highway patrol had detained 23 people, not including the two who escaped. The executive director of the Highway Patrol summed up how the operation went.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

In his words, he said, you win some, you lose some.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

Arjan later learned that the driver, the guy who had begged to call his baby son, was eventually arrested. The younger passenger hasn't been caught. These state troopers already had a job before they were deputized in this way. They, you know, write speeding tickets, they attend crash scenes, things like that. How sustainable is it for local or state law enforcement to also take on the duties of federal immigration agents?

[Ariane Campo Flores]

It is time consuming, and it is. It does consume resources. But the DeSantis administration in Florida has made clear that this is a priority for the state, for his administration to support the Trump administration's illegal immigration crackdown. And so as a policy decision, you know, if that is a priority, then you're going to dedicate resources to it.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

And while immigrant advocacy groups remain concerned, supporters see that arrests and detentions are up. And by those measures, 287 is doing exactly what it was designed to do.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

The Florida Highway Patrol has been the lead agency involved in more than 3,500 apprehensions of people suspected of being in the country illegally. That's a big number, 3,500. So I think the evidence is there that if this is a policy you're in agreement with, 287 can help boost apprehensions of suspected undocumented immigrants.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

The Trump administration has said it would like to have at least 20,000 state and local law enforcement trained to carry out some of these immigration enforcement duties. In other words, this experiment could just be the beginning, and it could reshape the work of local and state law enforcement across the country.

[Ariane Campo Flores]

It's potentially a glimpse of where things could be headed. I mean, the director of the Florida Highway Patrol told me that he envisions the work that the Florida Highway Patrol is doing as a model for what other state and local agencies can do around the country. And there are hundreds of other task force agreements that have been struck by law enforcement agencies throughout the country. If there are jurisdictions and there are states that decide that this is a policy that they want to pursue, they can look at Florida as a potential model of how to go about doing that.

[Narrator / Host (Jessica Mendoza)]

That's all for today. Monday, September 22nd. The Journal is a co production of Spotify and the Wall Street Journal. Additional reporting in this episode from Scott Calvert and Elizabeth Findell. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.