Florida sheriffs took part in one big fight with Homeland Security against a bad problem

Homeland Security is the tip of the spear cracking down on illegal immigration. 

They are getting some help tackling one challenge. 

And Florida sheriffs took part in one big fight with Homeland Security against a bad problem. 

Florida sheriffs and Homeland Security partner against human trafficking on highways 

The I-95 is the main north-south highway on the East Coast that runs from Miami, Florida, to the U.S-Canadian border in Maine. 

Highways are the routes that human smugglers and sex traffickers use to move illegal aliens throughout the country. 

Florida sheriffs were deputized under the federal 287(g) program to help the Department of Homeland Security enforce immigration law. 

Fox News got to ride along and see a task force composed of a Florida sheriff’s office and federal law enforcement target illegal immigration on I-95. 

The St. Johns County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office partnered with Homeland Security, the Border Patrol, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. 

Every week the task force targets illegal immigration, sex trafficking, and human smugglers on the I-95 corridor in North Florida. 

St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick noted that probable cause is needed to pull someone over. 

Local, state, and federal law enforcement work together to make a bust 

In one stop, a sheriff’s deputy pulled over a vehicle for speeding on the I-95, and the driver did not have a license. 

The driver and the passenger were brothers from Colombia and could not confirm their citizenship. 

Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Matthew Zetts was called in to verify their citizenship status. 

Law enforcement became suspicious after talking to the brothers; they could be engaged in drug trafficking. 

Screws around the bumper were loose which raised red flags. 

“It could show that the bumper section was repeatedly removed and could be a hold for illicit drugs from across the border,” St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Bobby Kukar stated.

A K-9 with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office signaled that there were drugs in the vehicle. 

The vehicle was seized, and the two Colombian brothers had an ICE detainer placed on them. 

Officers with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office now have the ability to detain suspected illegal aliens because of the 287(g) program. 

The Trump administration is expanding the 287(g) program throughout the country as it ramps up enforcement against illegal immigration. 

Florida is leading the charge on cooperation between local law enforcement and Homeland Security. 

Every county sheriff in the state participates in the 287(g) program. 

Sheriff Hardwick holds a weekly meeting with state, local, and federal law enforcement to discuss the most wanted criminal illegal aliens in the North Florida area they are looking to target. 

“And a simple warning, that in the state of Florida, if you are wanted — whether you’re an illegal alien or you’re a citizen of the United States — we are going to hunt you down to find you and hold you accountable for your actions,” Hardwick stated. 

Local law enforcement is going to help with a lot of the heavy lifting in enforcing immigration law in jurisdictions that enter into 287(g) agreements.