Joe Biden spent four years telling local cops to stand down on illegal immigration.
Now Florida is literally paying them to do the opposite.
And what Brevard County's Sheriff Wayne Ivey did with that partnership – and what CFO Blaise Ingoglia just put in his department's bank account – is the model every state in America should be copying right now.
Florida Writes the Check While Biden's Legacy Burns
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia traveled to Titusville Thursday and handed over nearly $690,000 in state reimbursements to Brevard County law enforcement agencies participating in the 287(g) immigration enforcement program.
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office collected $577,021.
The Cocoa Beach Police Department received $99,515.
The Indialantic Police Department got $15,102.
https://twitter.com/john_scully23/status/2027129844920639561?s=20
That money comes from $250 million the Florida Legislature set aside specifically for the State Board of Immigration Enforcement – a board that didn't even exist two years ago, created precisely because Biden's open-border disaster forced Florida to act alone.
"If the 287(g) program goes away," Ingoglia said Thursday, "we go back to the insanity that was under the Biden administration."
That's not a talking point.
That's a financial accounting of what the border collapse cost Florida's law enforcement agencies – and a commitment to make sure those costs never fall on local taxpayers again.
Brevard County Already Proved the Model Works
Here's what the investment buys in real results.
Last September, Sheriff Ivey and ICE ran "Operation One Way Ticket" – four days, 354 illegal aliens detained across Brevard County, 150 immediately deported from Palm Bay to Titusville, with the full operation netting more than 400 arrests across Central Florida.
Ivey put the street-level reality plainly in March 2025 when he described working with Customs and Border Patrol on Interstate 95.
"In one hour, had seven illegals in custody – seven in one hour out on the interstate," Ivey said.
That's what ICE-local partnership looks like when you fund it.
https://twitter.com/SheriffIvey/status/2027175438401900744?s=20
Florida Is Building a National Model
The 287(g) program isn't new. Congress created it in 1996. But Biden's administration gutted participation and froze local enforcement out.
Then Trump won in 2024, Florida got serious, and the numbers tell the rest of the story.
Florida now has 327 active 287(g) agreements – a 577% increase since January 20, 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Every single one of Florida's 67 county sheriffs has signed an agreement. All 67.
Nationally, ICE arrests more than doubled in 2025 compared to 2024. Florida's daily ICE arrests tripled to roughly 64 per day.
DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet have already approved more than $60 million in immigration enforcement grants since September 2025 – and the board approved another $40 million at last Tuesday's Cabinet meeting alone, covering body cameras with AI translation, license plate readers, surveillance towers, and detention bed space.
Cocoa Beach Police Chief Chris Kuehn said Thursday's reimbursement funding "allows us and affords us the ability to purchase some technology" to strengthen enforcement.
That technology doesn't just catch criminal illegal aliens. It keeps them from coming back.
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/2027071983905657031?s=20
The Rest of America Is Watching
The significance of Thursday's announcement is easy to miss if you think it's just about $690,000 in Brevard County.
It isn't.
Florida built a reimbursement infrastructure specifically so that local law enforcement never has to choose between immigration enforcement and their operating budget.
Under Biden, Miami-Dade refused to hold illegal aliens for ICE because the federal government wasn't covering the cost – and that excuse let dangerous people walk free.
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/2027103801677627741?s=20
Florida eliminated that excuse statewide, permanently.
Every city that still refuses to cooperate with ICE is making a deliberate choice to protect its political standing at the expense of public safety.
Florida made the opposite choice, built the financial structure to back it up, and is now handing checks to the deputies doing the work.
The sheriffs show up.
The state pays the bill.
Criminal illegal aliens go home.
That's what governing looks like.
Sources:
- Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia, Official Press Release, Florida Department of Financial Services, February 26, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, "Weeklong ICE Operation with State and Local Partners Leads to Arrest of More than 400 Illegal Aliens in Central Florida," September 30, 2025.
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "ICE Miami, 287(g) Partners Arrest 400 Criminal Aliens During Central Florida Operations," ice.gov, September 30, 2025.
- Florida Sheriffs Association, "Florida Sheriffs Association Announces 287(g) Compliance in All County Jails," flsheriffs.org, February 24, 2025.
- FOX 35 Orlando, "'Operation One-Way Ticket' Detains 350 in 4 Days, Results in 150 Deportations, Sheriff Says," September 27, 2025.
- Florida Department of Law Enforcement, State Board of Immigration Enforcement Grant Program, fdle.state.fl.us, 2025–2026.
- Orlando Sentinel, "DeSantis, Florida Cabinet Approve $40 Million in Immigration Enforcement Grants," February 24, 2026.
