State moves to formalize Florida Highway Patrol’s role in immigration enforcement

Florida Highway Patrol troopers could soon be deputized to perform some of the functions of federal immigration officers under an agreement Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Wednesday with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

DeSantis said Wednesday during a news conference that Highway Patrol troopers will have “authority to exercise immigration power.”

But the union representing the majority of troopers warns the agency needs millions more dollars to carry out its work — money that neither DeSantis nor the Legislature have assigned to the historically underfunded organization.

“We’re going to be the tip of the spear, with no additional funding,” said William Smith, the president of the Florida Highway Patrol chapter of Florida’s Police Benevolent Association.

The memorandum comes as DeSantis tries to reassert his role in immigration enforcement amid a fierce back-and-forth with the Florida Legislature over dueling immigration bills that both aim to help President Donald Trump’s efforts to identify and deport immigrants who are in the country illegally.

DeSantis said he would veto the bill passed by Florida lawmakers.

As Florida political leaders and the governor wrangle, DeSantis is using his executive authority to push Florida troopers to the forefront of the state’s immigration enforcement efforts.

DeSantis previously authorized highway patrol troopers to support immigration enforcement initiatives at the southern border in Texas. Twenty troopers are still stationed there, Smith said.

Florida troopers have also been involved in enforcing a state law that makes it a crime to transport immigrants who are in the country illegally into Florida from another state.

Molly Best, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said troopers have worked with federal immigration “many times during operations.”

“The MOU formalizes our path forward and allows us to further assist them in enforcing immigration laws,” Best said.

Best said she did not have details on what officer training would involve, and said it was “an evolving matter that could change several times before it is finalized.”

The memorandum DeSantis signed specifically notes that designated troopers would not get any additional compensation.

Smith said that highway patrol currently has about 150 trooper vacancies, and that starting pay is about $54,000. In its 2025-26 budget request to the Legislature, the department wrote that troopers’ starting salaries are the third-lowest out of 49 state highway patrol or state police agencies, making recruitment and retention a “significant challenge.” The average length of service for a trooper is 6 years.

Smith told lawmakers this week that the department needed about $30 million more each year to increase trooper salaries. The department is asking the Legislature for $12 million to boost pay and hire more troopers in the upcoming 2025-2026 budget.

Troopers will be “hard pressed” to carry out additional duties without the funding, Smith told lawmakers.

The memorandum notes that each trooper would get “appropriate training in laws, policies and procedures.” Smith said it’s not clear what that training would look like.

Smith said he fears the training could take troopers away from their posts when they’re already stretched thin.

Troopers also have not received any information about how many people will be authorized to have broader immigration powers, Smith said.

DeSantis previously proposed — in the bill that legislators declined to take up — that 10 percent of a law enforcement agency be available to take on the powers of an immigration officer. That would be about 200 Florida Highway Patrol troopers if the governor follows that plan, Smith said.

Smith said he and the officers support immigration reform and enforcing immigration laws, but they want to ensure it’s done correctly.

“In other words, don’t rush it,” Smith said. “And that’s what this past week felt like. Everything was being rushed.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 7:54 PM.