Amid the tumultuous blitz of immigration officers into Minnesota, Central Florida congressmen Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost are warning that the Orlando area could be ICE’s next major target — and there are indications the surge could already be underway.
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.”
