ICE and Florida Arrest 230 Criminal Illegal Immigrants Including 150 Sexual Predators in Targeted 10-Day Operation

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted a targeted 10-day operation that resulted in the arrest of more than 230 criminal illegal immigrants across Florida, including approximately 150 registered sex offenders and convicted sexual predators, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the Governor's office. The operation, which authorities have described under various names including Operation Criminal Return and Operation Dirtbag, focused specifically on convicted criminals who had completed their prison sentences and remained in the United States without legal status. The arrests represent the latest chapter in Florida's deeply integrated partnership with federal immigration enforcement, which has made the state one of the most active venues for ICE operations in the country.

The Operation

The 10-day operation was conducted statewide across multiple Florida jurisdictions, with ICE agents and FDLE officers working in coordinated teams to identify, locate, and apprehend individuals who met the operation's targeting criteria. All of those arrested had prior criminal convictions and had served their sentences before the immigration enforcement action was initiated, meaning the operation was not targeting individuals based solely on immigration status but focused specifically on individuals with documented criminal records who also lacked legal authorization to remain in the United States.

ICE leveraged its 287(g) partnership agreements with Florida's law enforcement agencies, including FDLE, to conduct the operation. The 287(g) program, named for a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows state and local law enforcement agencies to perform certain immigration enforcement functions under the supervision and oversight of ICE. Florida was one of the early adopters of the 287(g) program and has expanded its participation in recent years, creating a framework that allows state and local agencies to act as force multipliers for federal immigration enforcement operations.

Federal partners in the operation included ICE Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The participation of multiple federal law enforcement agencies in a state-level operation reflects the scale and coordination that characterized this enforcement action, as well as the priority that the Trump administration has placed on removing criminal illegal immigrants from communities across the United States.

The Scope of the Arrests

Of the more than 230 criminal illegal immigrants arrested during the 10-day operation, approximately 150 were registered sex offenders or convicted sexual predators. The remaining arrests involved individuals convicted of other serious offenses, including attempted premeditated murder with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, burglary, and possession of controlled substances. The emphasis on sexual predators reflected a deliberate targeting decision by the operation's planners, who identified this category of criminal offender as among the highest public safety priorities for removal from the United States.

The crimes for which the arrested individuals had prior convictions included sexual assault, sexual battery, lewd and lascivious molestation of children, possession of narcotics, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, burglary, attempted premeditated murder with a deadly weapon, and aggravated battery. The range of underlying offenses illustrates that the operation's target population included individuals convicted of some of the most serious crimes in the criminal code, not merely minor or nonviolent offenses that might generate different policy debates about the appropriate use of immigration enforcement resources.

A specific case that drew attention in connection with the broader enforcement effort involved Henry Roldan Perez-Roblero, a Guatemalan national arrested by Martin County law enforcement on the felony charge of sexual battery of a victim under 12 years of age in May 2026. ICE lodged an arrest detainer for Perez-Roblero, meaning that if he were released from state custody, federal immigration authorities would be positioned to take him into custody for removal proceedings. His case exemplified the type of individual the operation was designed to identify and ensure does not remain in the community after a state criminal proceeding concludes.

The Florida-Federal Partnership

Florida's partnership with ICE has evolved significantly over the past several years and has been cited by both state and federal officials as a model for how state-level cooperation can extend the reach of federal immigration enforcement. The 287(g) agreements that govern the partnership allow FDLE and participating local law enforcement agencies to check the immigration status of individuals they encounter in the course of their regular law enforcement activities and to lodge detainers with ICE when they identify individuals who are in the country without legal status.

Governor DeSantis has made immigration enforcement cooperation with federal authorities a central priority of his administration, and Florida was among the first states to sign comprehensive 287(g) participation agreements after the Trump administration expanded the program in 2025. The partnership has been reinforced by state legislation requiring cooperation with federal immigration detainers and restricting the ability of local governments to declare themselves sanctuary jurisdictions that would limit local law enforcement's interaction with ICE.

The operational benefits of the partnership are reflected in the scale and speed with which targeted enforcement actions like the 10-day operation can be conducted. Because ICE has pre-positioned relationships with law enforcement agencies across all 67 Florida counties, the federal agency can quickly coordinate statewide operations that in other states might be limited by the absence of local cooperation. Florida's geographic size and population density mean that a statewide operation can produce a large number of arrests in a short period when the operational infrastructure is in place.

Florida's National Leadership in Immigration Enforcement

Florida has consistently ranked among the top states in ICE arrests since the expansion of the federal-state enforcement partnership began in earnest. A report from earlier in 2026 indicated that Florida led the nation in ICE arrests on a per-capita basis, driven by the extensive 287(g) participation and the active cooperation of local law enforcement agencies across the state. Between January 2025 and March 2026, ICE and Homeland Security Investigations made nearly 43,000 administrative and criminal arrests in Florida alone.

Operation Tidal Wave, a broader joint operation announced in January 2026 that marked the landmark of 10,000 arrests under the Florida-federal partnership, represented the largest joint immigration enforcement operation in ICE's history at the time of its announcement. The subsequent 10-day operation that resulted in the 230 arrests of criminal offenders represents a continuation and intensification of those enforcement activities, focused specifically on the highest-risk segment of the illegal immigrant population in terms of documented criminal conduct.

ICE data indicates that of the individuals arrested in Florida-related operations, a substantial majority have criminal arrests or convictions in their records. This statistic has been central to the DeSantis administration's public communications about the enforcement partnership, framing the operations as a public safety initiative rather than a broad-based immigration crackdown. The targeting of convicted sex offenders and violent criminals in the 10-day operation is consistent with that framing, focusing enforcement resources on individuals whose criminal records represent documented threats to community safety.

Policy Landscape and Federal Context

The 10-day operation occurred within the broader policy context of the Trump administration's aggressive use of immigration enforcement authority, which has included expanded use of 287(g) agreements, increased ICE detention capacity, and priority enforcement against individuals with criminal records. Florida's cooperation with those priorities has made it a leading example of the administration's preferred model for state-federal immigration enforcement partnerships.

At the federal level, the administration has sought to expand the definition of enforcement priorities to include all individuals in the country without legal status, not just those with criminal records. However, resources and political messaging have continued to emphasize the criminal offender population, both because it is the most politically defensible enforcement target and because it addresses the genuine public safety concern that motivated the expansion of the enforcement partnership in the first place.

Civil liberties organizations and immigrant advocacy groups have raised concerns about the broader enforcement environment in Florida, noting that the intensity of ICE enforcement activity has created anxiety in immigrant communities that extends beyond the targeted criminal offender population. They have documented cases of legal residents who were swept up in enforcement actions or who experienced collateral consequences from operations focused on their undocumented neighbors, and have called for clearer limits on the scope of enforcement activities to protect individuals who have legal status or who are in the process of establishing it.

What's Next

The 230 individuals arrested in the 10-day operation face immigration removal proceedings, which are conducted by immigration judges in the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review. The timeline for those proceedings varies significantly depending on the immigration court's docket, the individual's legal status and any pending immigration applications, and whether legal representation is available. Individuals who have been convicted of particularly serious offenses may face expedited removal proceedings that move more quickly through the system.

Florida law enforcement and ICE officials indicated that enforcement operations of this type are not one-time events but represent a sustained commitment to removing criminal illegal immigrants from Florida communities. Additional targeted operations are expected throughout 2026 and beyond, focused on various categories of criminal offenders identified through the 287(g) partnership's ongoing identification and vetting processes. The operational infrastructure that produced the 10-day operation remains in place and is expected to generate continued enforcement activity.

For Florida communities that have been directly affected by crimes committed by the individuals arrested in this and similar operations, the enforcement actions represent a form of accountability and community protection. Governor DeSantis's office has consistently emphasized these outcomes in public communications about the enforcement partnership, highlighting specific cases to illustrate the tangible public safety benefits of Florida's leadership role in immigration enforcement. The debate over the broader immigration enforcement policy will continue in courts, in Congress, and in the political arena, but for the families and communities affected by the crimes at issue in this operation, the arrests represent a concrete response to documented harm.