Pinellas County Schools police want to become first in the country to act as immigration officers

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
March 5, 2025

Pinellas County Schools’ police department could be the first in the country to enter an agreement with the federal government allowing officers to question people’s immigration status and detain them subject to deportation.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted on its website Wednesday morning that the police department for the school district of more than 91,000 students has a pending application to execute a Florida task force model agreement deputizing local law enforcement to act as immigration enforcement officers in some capacities.

All of the state’s sheriffs and several state agencies and municipalities have already enacted agreements with ICE, which Gov. Ron DeSantis has said will lead to street-level immigration enforcement to help the Trump administration carry out its promise of mass deportations.

Despite profiling concerns, more law agencies are joining street-level immigration enforcement

The Trump administration’s reversal of a policy restricting immigration arrests at schools and the Florida Department of Education’s willingness to comply with enforcement has instilled fear among immigrants living in the country without legal permanent status, a group of education and immigration advocates said during a press conference Wednesday morning.

The lack of centralized guidance from DOE emphasizing students’ right to privacy and public education regardless of their immigration status baffles Renata Bozzetto, deputy director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), she said during the press conference.

“What is really a big concern to us is putting this burden on teachers,” she said. “Teachers should not be trained on what to do with ICE. ICE should not be in school in the first place. Teachers should be concerned about creating a nourishing environment in which kids can learn.”

FLIC joined 61 other organizations, including the Florida Policy Institute and the ACLU of Florida, in calling for DOE to prohibit federal immigration enforcement officials and state and local officers acting on their behalf from entering school grounds without prior review by school districts’ legal counsel. The groups sent a letter to that effect Wednesday to Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz.

DeSantis has promoted in multiple press conferences the agreements with ICE, branding the state as a leader in immigration enforcement.

“This is the maximum participation that a local entity can have under current federal arrangements, and under Biden the 287(g), certainly the task force model, that laid dormant for four years, no one was doing it,” DeSantis said on Feb. 26 in Homestead. “If you wanted to do it, they wouldn’t sign you up for it. I know we couldn’t do it, so I thank President Trump for resuscitating this.”

ICE can delegate some of its authority to state and local law enforcement under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The task force model is one of the agreements under 287(g). Other types allow law enforcement to serve warrants to immigrants already in custody.

The Obama administration discontinued the task force model agreements with ICE in 2012 following lawsuits and investigations over racial profiling. ICE guidelines issued last month state that racial profiling will not be tolerated under the new task force agreements, according to Stateline, a reporting partner of Florida Phoenix.

ICE, the school district, the school police chief, and DOE did not immediately respond to the Phoenix’s request for comment or questions.

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