Many of those inmates have been there multiple times, shuffling out and back every three days in order to satisfy a technical requirement for how long they may be held. Once that happens, some inmates virtually disappear into the system and can’t easily be found.

The skyrocketing number of detentions contributed to rumors this month of an escalation in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Orlando, leading Democratic congressmen Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost to issue legal guidance and advocacy groups receiving ten times the number of calls for help from families of detainees.

In October, the Orange County Jail had a daily average of 30 immigration-only detainees, but the figure has surged to more than 140 per day in January. Over the past two weeks, the average spiked to 162 per day.  On Thursday, county Public Safety Director Danny Banks said 182 people were housed in the jail solely on immigration charges.

“We’re already at the top of the chimney – we’re over our ceiling,” Banks said. “I know Orange County jail can no longer continue to be their dumping port for all of their regional arrests.”

Federal authorities have also capitalized on a loophole in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract with Orange County to keep detainees there longer than the agreement was meant to allow.

Under the deal, ICE can house its detainees at the jail for up to 72 hours after any local charges are settled. If they don’t move them before then, those inmates are to be released.

But for months, in a practice first disclosed by the Orlando Sentinel, ICE has picked up its detainees at the jail and brought them back hours later, restarting the 72-hour clock. Now, that practice appears to be one of the primary strains on the jail.

Of the 182 ICE-only inmates at the jail on Thursday morning, 63%, or 115 of them, had been booked more than once, Banks said.

“I know of one example who was with us six times,” he said. “They are coming and getting them at 72 hours, and then within a day or so, they’re bringing that same inmate back to us for another 72-hour stint.”

He said the county attorney is reviewing whether such a maneuver is legal and if Orange could take action to stop it. But state law requires local officials to give their “best effort” to support immigration enforcement.

Josephine Arroyo, an Orlando immigration attorney, said she’s been unable to find some of her clients who had been booked at the jail, due to some of them being rebooked under a different identification number.

Arroyo said she and her husband attorney Phillip Arroyo have visited their clients in the portion the jail set aside for the detainees, finding “it’s a sea of brown, Latino men.”

“This past Sunday, my office had to tell your guards the exact location of our client because your system showed she was not there,” Arroyo told commissioners this week. “And guess what? She was in BRC-3-Delta,” she said, describing the client’s cell number.

Nobody interviewed by the Sentinel knows where inmates are taken when they’re briefly removed from the jail. ICE isn’t required to tell the jail that, nor where someone was originally arrested, Banks said. He surmised that many in the jail were likely arrested outside of the county, or possibly even the state.

“We don’t really know where they’re taking them, they sit somewhere for like eight hours, and then they bring them back,” Arroyo said.

It is not clear why federal authorities don’t simply transport immigrants to Alligator Alcatraz or similar facilities. Nor is it known whether a new ICE processing center being considered for a warehouse in east Orlando might rectify the problem. ICE didn’t respond to a request for comment.

After President Donald Trump took office for his second term and began ramping up his mass deportation agenda, Banks said the county set aside two areas of the jail to house those with immigration-only violations: a space for 65 men and a space for 65 women, or a maximum of 130 beds. The jail’s total capacity is roughly 4,000.

But if more men – as is typical – are booked than women, it creates a problem. If the jail has 80 men and 20 women, for example, it needs to find more space for the 15 men, he said.

“We’re completely tapped out at that space, and because their numbers keep increasing, it’s forcing us to constantly move our inmates around to accommodate the federal civil-only inmates,” he said.

Because of the rush of federal inmates, Banks said corrections officers are overworked and overtime costs are way up in order to provide adequate security for inmates.

The surge comes after the jail has struggled to fill open positions and had a 25% vacancy rate early last year. Since then, starting pay has been boosted nearly $4 per hour in a new union contract, which Banks said at the time was the highest in the area at $27.42 per hour.

The feds reimburse Orange County government $88 per day to house a federal inmate, even though the county says it costs $180 per day per person to do so. Banks and county leaders have been in negotiations with the U.S. Marshal’s Service to increase that reimbursement, but so far haven’t struck a deal.

Among the legal issues facing Orange County is the state law which requires cities and counties to provide their “best efforts” to assist ICE. Last year, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatened Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and the Board of County Commisisoners with removal from their posts if they didn’t sign onto an agreement allowing their corrections officers to transport inmates on behalf of authorities.

Orange County Commissioner Kelly Semrad said the county should take legal action and file a lawsuit so a judge can formally define what counts as their “best efforts.”

“It’s been time for legal action,” she said. “There’s no harm and no foul to go after a declaratory action judgement to ask a judge to define it for us.”

The Hope CommUnity Center said in a Friday evening statement it confirmed about 300 people had been booked into the Orange County Jail on immigration holds in the previous 48 hours alone — which would mark a steep increase compared to the roughly 70 people booked on such holds on a normal day.

“We have received multiple verifiable and credible reports that ICE and Border Patrol agents are stopping individuals in our communities, requesting documentation, and detaining people, often without a clear explanation,” said Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, the executive director of the center and a Democratic candidate for the Florida House.

A spokesperson for the jail told the Sentinel that a total of 831 people had been booked on such holds since Jan. 1. County Commissioner Nicole Wilson said that number was a shocking total, since only about 300 people had been booked in December.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said he was advised by his jail chief that a significant number of the recent bookings were people who were rebooked into the jail. Under the county’s agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency can only keep a person booked there for 72 hours before transporting them to a federal facility — though the agency apparently has been taking detainees elsewhere, only to bring them back to the jail.

Rumors had swirled on social media this week that ICE had booked 200 hotel rooms for its officers throughout the region this weekend, as well as that officials were touring an east Orlando warehouse Friday for a potential new detainee processing facility.

WFTV reported that a senior ICE advisor confirmed the agency toured the facility, though no contracts have been signed. WKMG later reported that they joined ICE representatives on their tour.

Frost, D-Orlando, said in a video posted to his Facebook page Thursday that “ICE is in the community and that they have made pretty large hotel reservations in surrounding hotels as well.”

The post included a flyer informing people how they can interact with federal authorities, including to ask to see a warrant before opening the door, that you don’t need to provide your immigration status or place of birth, and to let a trusted family member know how to find important documents.

In recent days, the Central Florida area stretching west from Lakeland to east Orange appeared to be a hotspot for immigration enforcement according to People Over Papers, which documents the presence of ICE and other authorities using witness reports. One alleged sighting of four uniformed officers was reported at Disney Springs Thursday evening.

Wilson said she’s received accounts of authorities stopping people across her district in western Orange County, including a landscaping crew on Plant Street in downtown Winter Garden.

Demings said his staff had been unable to confirm if such a surge was planned for this week, but urged county residents to respond in a peaceful manner.

“Whatever response we have in this community, I would always implore our community to respond in a peaceful way,” he said.

Florida has already aggressively participated with federal authorities in immigration enforcement, requiring counties to sign agreements to cooperate with ICE and deputizing the Florida Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies to provide enforcement as well.

Under the so-called Operation Tidal Wave, which Gov. Ron DeSantis touted as “the largest joint immigration enforcement operation in ICE’s history,” state authorities have arrested more than 10,000 undocumented immigrants across the state.

While there is an ICE Field Office in Orlando, a processing facility could further ramp up efforts. The Washington Post reported last month that a document it obtained laid out a plan to detain immigrants in warehouses across the country, with a total capacity of 80,000. That includes a network of facilities that could hold about 1,500 a piece.

The document didn’t name Orlando as a location, though it did mention a possible facility in Jupiter, the northern coastal Palm Beach County town.

The Orlando property reportedly toured by ICE is east of Sunbridge Parkway, zoned for industrial uses and is surrounded by land that Tavistock plans to build its massive Sunbridge community with thousands of homes. Today nearly all of those thousands of acres are wooded with pines, palmettos and brush.

The warehouse park, though, is one of the few parcels not controlled by Tavistock, a spokesperson said. A real estate agent listed as marketing the 440,000 square foot warehouse for lease didn’t return a call for comment.

City officials say nobody has inquired about the property, which may require a zoning change if it truly was pursued as an immigration facility. Such usage may even require a conditional-use permit, which requires the approval of the City Council, though it’s unclear if the federal government can work around city rules.

Soto, D-Kissimmee, said his office hasn’t been informed of such a facility in Central Florida, He added he was monitoring increased ICE activity in the region.

“President Trump promised to only deport violent criminals. He has broken this promise countless times in Central Florida,” he said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t respond to emailed questions.

But Alex Lanfranconi, DeSantis’ communications director, stoked the flames Thursday by responding to an X account reporting about the warehouse’s alleged 1,500-person capacity. “This is ridiculous,” Lanfranconi wrote. “It needs to hold wayyyy more people.”

Lazaballet told the Sentinel that seeking an immigrant processing center in Orlando is plausible, since the city is also home to one of three immigration courts in Florida, with the other two located in Miami.

“Logistically speaking, it would make sense,” said Sousa-Lazaballet, also the executive director of Hope CommUnity Center.

Amid the talk of an ICE surge, local activists have looked for signs of businesses collaborating with ICE or its sister agency U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, with some groups this week targeting a pet resort in Lake Nona.

Pet Paradise Resort & Spa, which is headquartered in Jacksonville and has multiple locations around the country, took to Instagram to defend its partnership with CBP, saying the dogs they house are used at nearby airports like Orlando International. They denied housing animals brought in by ICE.

Further alarms were raised in light of rumors of ICE agents booking rooms at local hotels at a time when its presence appears to have increased.

“It does track that it feels overwhelming,” Sousa-Lazaballet said. “If they got 200 rooms, that’s in addition to the agents they already have here.”

The Sentinel reached out to area hotels this week but did not find any confirmation of increased ICE bookings. ICE did hold a recruitment event at a Tampa-area Hilton on Thursday and Friday, which drew protests.

At a press conference on Thursday at The Gathering Place Church in Orlando, the Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and senior pastor at the church, said “we do not want to see any replication of what’s happening in Minnesota.”

Alongside other religious leaders and immigrant advocates, he called on residents to protest ICE actions peacefully and for ICE agents to give undocumented immigrants due process and respect.

“We are telling the administration that any discriminatory action on immigration that puts in danger our families, that separates families, that affects the religious liberty of our churches, the Evangelical community will raise its voice in solidarity,” Salguero said. “It’s very important for everyone to know that our commitment is rooted in non-violence.”

Siclaly Santiago-Leon said their memory was most important. She’s the cousin of Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, who was slain in the attack on the LGBTQ safe haven.

“One of the greatest heartaches for a grieving person can be the fear that their loved ones will be forgotten,” Santiago-Leon said. “As family members of the 49 angels, we have vowed to never let that happen.”

The Pulse Remembrance Ceremony at Steinmetz Hall capped a day of events ranging from Greenwood Cemetery to the ringing of the church bells at First United Methodist Church downtown.

Osceola unveils images of colorful sculpture for tribute to 49 Pulse victims on 8th anniversary

It came as city officials hope to kickstart efforts to build a permanent memorial at the nightclub site — amid some distrust in the latest effort following a failed try by the onePulse Foundation.

“I understand that all that has transpired over the last year has been especially difficult for some families and survivors … And while I know that a renewed effort to create a memorial won’t necessarily make those feelings go away, or erase the pain that the tragedy left behind, my hope is that we can work together to finally turn the desire for a permanent memorial at the Pulse site into a reality,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

“My hope is that together we can create a memorial where we can grieve, where we can reflect and most importantly, where we can honor the 49 angels and survivors each and every day.”

Last week, applications opened to join an advisory board that will meet monthly starting in July in hopes of ironing out a design for the memorial — which Dyer hopes will be built by the end of his mayoral term at the end of 2027.

The application will be available until June 23 at pulseorlando.org/committee.

The now-dissolved nonprofit, formed by owner of the nightclub Barbara Poma, had extravagant plans to construct a memorial and museum, though ultimately it wasn’t able to fundraise close to the amount of money needed to do so.

Last year, the city purchased the nightclub from the Poma family for $2 million and formally took over memorial efforts — and has said it won’t pursue the museum.

In remembering the victims Wednesday afternoon, about 80 gathered at First United Methodist Church for the reading of the victims’ names — and rang church bells in their honor.

The evening ceremony included prayer, a video presentation dedicated to the victims, as well as performances by the Orlando Gay Chorus.

In a prayer shared by the Rev. José Rodriguez, of the Episcopal Churches of Christ the King and Jesus de Nazaret, he noted the 49 were reflective of the city where they danced eight years prior.

“We honor the daughters and sons of Borinquen, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Africa and Europe,” he said. “Each person, touched by Light and Life, the source of love, courage and resilience.”

President Joe Biden acknowledged the solemn date in a tweet Wednesday evening.

“Eight years since the shooting at Pulse, I mourn the 49 souls stolen from us in the deadliest attack on the LGBTQI+ community in our history. It’s on us to create a world where LGBTQI+ folks are safe — and where we do more than just remember the victims of gun violence, but act,” his account said.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com

Siclaly Santiago-Leon said their memory was most important. She’s the cousin of Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, who was slain in the attack on the LGBTQ safe haven.

“One of the greatest heartaches for a grieving person can be the fear that their loved ones will be forgotten,” Santiago-Leon said. “As family members of the 49 angels, we have vowed to never let that happen.”

The Pulse Remembrance Ceremony at Steinmetz Hall capped a day of events ranging from Greenwood Cemetery to the ringing of the church bells at First United Methodist Church downtown.

Osceola unveils images of colorful sculpture for tribute to 49 Pulse victims on 8th anniversary

It came as city officials hope to kickstart efforts to build a permanent memorial at the nightclub site — amid some distrust in the latest effort following a failed try by the onePulse Foundation.

“I understand that all that has transpired over the last year has been especially difficult for some families and survivors … And while I know that a renewed effort to create a memorial won’t necessarily make those feelings go away, or erase the pain that the tragedy left behind, my hope is that we can work together to finally turn the desire for a permanent memorial at the Pulse site into a reality,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

“My hope is that together we can create a memorial where we can grieve, where we can reflect and most importantly, where we can honor the 49 angels and survivors each and every day.”

Last week, applications opened to join an advisory board that will meet monthly starting in July in hopes of ironing out a design for the memorial — which Dyer hopes will be built by the end of his mayoral term at the end of 2027.

The application will be available until June 23 at pulseorlando.org/committee.

The now-dissolved nonprofit, formed by owner of the nightclub Barbara Poma, had extravagant plans to construct a memorial and museum, though ultimately it wasn’t able to fundraise close to the amount of money needed to do so.

Last year, the city purchased the nightclub from the Poma family for $2 million and formally took over memorial efforts — and has said it won’t pursue the museum.

In remembering the victims Wednesday afternoon, about 80 gathered at First United Methodist Church for the reading of the victims’ names — and rang church bells in their honor.

The evening ceremony included prayer, a video presentation dedicated to the victims, as well as performances by the Orlando Gay Chorus.

In a prayer shared by the Rev. José Rodriguez, of the Episcopal Churches of Christ the King and Jesus de Nazaret, he noted the 49 were reflective of the city where they danced eight years prior.

“We honor the daughters and sons of Borinquen, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Africa and Europe,” he said. “Each person, touched by Light and Life, the source of love, courage and resilience.”

President Joe Biden acknowledged the solemn date in a tweet Wednesday evening.

“Eight years since the shooting at Pulse, I mourn the 49 souls stolen from us in the deadliest attack on the LGBTQI+ community in our history. It’s on us to create a world where LGBTQI+ folks are safe — and where we do more than just remember the victims of gun violence, but act,” his account said.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com