R
Jimmy Patronis
FL-1
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
Section 01
The Architect
Governor
Ron DeSantis
Governor of Florida (R)
On February 13, 2025, less than an hour after the Florida Legislature passed SB 2-C and SB 4-C, Governor Ron DeSantis signed both bills into law — the most aggressive state-level immigration enforcement legislation in the nation.
- Signed SB 2-C and SB 4-C into law on February 13, 2025, less than one hour after legislative passage
- $298,830,552 appropriation for immigration enforcement operations
- Created the State Board of Immigration Enforcement within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)
- Mandated all 67 county sheriffs cooperate with ICE through 287(g) agreements
- Established Operation Tidal Wave — a first-of-its-kind state-federal enforcement partnership resulting in 10,000+ arrests
- Bonuses for law enforcement officers participating in ICE operations
- Death penalty provision for undocumented persons convicted of capital offenses
- Repealed in-state tuition for undocumented students
DeSantis dismissed criticism of the legislation as political noise and touted Florida as “leading the nation” in immigration enforcement.
Historical Parallel
In 1933, the Nazi regime passed the Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums (Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service), which mandated that local government officials cooperate with federal directives to identify and exclude targeted populations. DeSantis’s mandate requiring all 67 sheriffs to sign 287(g) agreements follows the same structural pattern: the state compelling local authorities to enforce federal targeting of a specific population. Holocaust scholar Daniel H. Magilow of the University of Tennessee notes that comparing ICE to the Gestapo reflects “a fear that the U.S. is veering toward authoritarianism reminiscent of 1930s Germany.”
Section 02
The Federal Enablers
On January 22, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 7147 (DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026) by a vote of 220–207. Every Florida Republican voted YES — funding the full machinery of ICE enforcement, detention, and deportation. As Senator Jeff Merkley put it: “Masked federal agents terrorizing our communities at the behest of an authoritarian strongman has a name: fascism.” These are the representatives who voted to fund it.
U.S. House — Voted YES on H.R. 7147
R
Neal Dunn
FL-2
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Kat Cammack
FL-3
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Aaron Bean
FL-4
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
John Rutherford
FL-5
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Cory Mills
FL-7
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Daniel Webster
FL-11
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Gus Bilirakis
FL-12
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Anna Luna
FL-13
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Laurel Lee
FL-15
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Vern Buchanan
FL-16
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Greg Steube
FL-17
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Scott Franklin
FL-18
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Byron Donalds
FL-19
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Brian Mast
FL-21
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Maria Salazar
FL-27
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
R
Carlos Gimenez
FL-28
Voted YES on H.R. 7147
DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026
U.S. Senators — Vocal Supporters of DHS/ICE Operations
R
Rick Scott
US Senator
Vocal Supporter
Advocated for expanded DHS/ICE operations
R
Marco Rubio
US Senator
Vocal Supporter
Advocated for expanded DHS/ICE operations
Section 03
The State Enforcers
SB 2-C passed the Florida Senate 27–10 on strict party lines on February 13, 2025. The Florida House vote was also along party lines. Every Republican voted YES. Zero Democrats voted in favor.
Key State Legislators
Sponsor
R
Sen. Joe Gruters
R-Sarasota
PRIMARY SPONSOR of SB 2-C
Authored the $298M enforcement bill
Co-Sponsor
R
Sen. Randy Fine
R-Brevard
CO-SPONSOR of SB 2-C
Co-authored the enforcement legislation
All 27 Republican State Senators Voted YES
SB 2-C passed the Florida Senate 27–10 on strict party lines. Every Republican senator voted to fund and mandate ICE cooperation across all 67 counties.
Florida House Republican Majority — Voted YES
The full Republican majority in the Florida House voted along party lines to pass SB 2-C, sending it to Governor DeSantis within hours.
Notable dissent: Sen. Ileana Garcia (R-Miami-Dade) broke with her party to vote against the death penalty provision in SB 4-C.
Section 04
The 67 Sheriffs
Every single one of Florida's 67 county sheriffs signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, allowing local law enforcement to act as federal immigration agents. No other state comes close. Florida leads the nation.
Every county. No exceptions.
Historical Parallel: The Ordnungspolizei
Nazi Germany’s Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) were local and regional police forces co-opted into enforcing federal racial laws. Historian Christopher Browning documented in Ordinary Men how regular police battalions became willing instruments of mass deportation — not because they were ideologues, but because the bureaucratic structure made compliance the path of least resistance. When all 67 Florida sheriffs sign federal enforcement agreements, the structural parallel is unmistakable: local law enforcement conscripted into a federal deportation apparatus, with financial incentives (bonuses, $38.5M in federal funding) replacing the threat of punishment as the mechanism of compliance. As a Holocaust educator told MPR News, these are “warning signs” that echo the incremental steps of 1930s Germany.
Key Sheriffs
Sheriff
Grady Judd
Polk County
SIGNED 287(g) Agreement
Led public announcements, aggressive enforcement rhetoric
Sheriff
Bob Gualtieri
Pinellas County
SIGNED 287(g) Agreement
Signed 287(g) agreement
Sheriff
Michelle Cook
Clay County
SIGNED 287(g) Agreement
Signed 287(g) agreement
State Agencies That Signed 287(g) Agreements
- Florida Highway Patrol
- Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)
- Florida State Guard
- Florida Dept of Agriculture Law Enforcement
- Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Section 05
The Numbers
The scale of Florida's immigration enforcement apparatus, by the numbers.
327
287(g) agreements in Florida
577% increase since Jan 2025
10,000+
Arrests through Operation Tidal Wave
First program of its kind
$298M
State funding for enforcement
Allocated by SB 2-C
$13.6M
Federal funding to FL Highway Safety
For immigration enforcement
$38.5M
Federal 287(g) funding to FL agencies
ICE partnership funds
67/67
Sheriffs signed ICE agreements
Every single county
0
Democratic votes for SB 2-C
Passed on strict party lines
577%
Increase in 287(g) agreements
Since January 2025
Section 06
“It Can’t Happen Here”
Holocaust scholars, historians, and elected officials have drawn direct parallels between Florida’s immigration enforcement apparatus and the early stages of fascist regimes. These comparisons are not hyperbole — they are sourced from peer-reviewed scholarship, Holocaust educators, and the historical record.
1930s Germany
The Gestapo & Local Police Cooperation
The Gestapo relied on local police forces (Ordnungspolizei) to enforce federal directives targeting specific populations. Local officers were deputized to carry out raids, detentions, and deportations on behalf of the national government.
Florida, 2025: All 67 county sheriffs signed 287(g) agreements deputizing local
officers as federal immigration agents. Five state agencies joined. Officers receive bonuses
for participating in ICE operations.
1938 Germany
The Polenaktion
In October 1938, the Gestapo conducted the Polenaktion (Polish Action) — mass raids targeting 17,000 Polish-born Jews who lacked German citizenship. Uniformed agents forced their way into homes, rounded up residents, and deported them in three days. The targets were mostly long-term residents, many German-born.
Florida, 2025–26: Operation Tidal Wave conducted mass raids resulting
in 10,000+ arrests. DHS conducted a “weeklong operation” in Central Florida
arresting 400+ people in a single sweep, using state police, sheriffs, and the National Guard.
1933 Germany
Registration & Identification Laws
The Nazi regime required Jewish residents to register with authorities, carry identification, and report to government offices. These registries were later used to facilitate roundups and deportations. What began as “administrative requirements” became instruments of persecution.
Florida, 2025: SB 2-C mandated state-level immigration databases,
required the Attorney General to enforce immigration detainers, and created a State Board
of Immigration Enforcement within FDLE to track and identify undocumented residents.
The Milwaukee Independent reports that federal registration requirements for undocumented
immigrants “parallel Nazi-era laws.”
1935 Germany
The Nuremberg Laws: Two-Tier Justice
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 established a two-tier legal system where Jewish residents faced harsher penalties than other Germans for the same offenses. The laws stripped citizenship rights and created a legal framework for persecution disguised as “public safety.”
Florida, 2025: SB 2-C imposes harsher criminal penalties on undocumented
persons than on citizens for the same offenses. SB 4-C includes a death penalty provision
specifically for undocumented persons convicted of capital offenses — a sentencing
enhancement based solely on immigration status. Tuition rights were revoked for
undocumented students, creating explicit legal inequality.
1930s–40s
Economic Scapegoating
The Nazi regime blamed Jewish residents for Germany’s economic problems despite their significant contributions to the economy. Driving them out devastated industries that depended on their labor and expertise.
Florida, 2025: Unauthorized immigrants are essential to Florida’s
agriculture, construction, hospitality, and service industries. FL Sen. Carlos Smith (D)
warned that the $298M enforcement investment “would worsen the labor shortage and
increase prices.” The economic self-harm mirrors the historical pattern precisely.
Fascist Playbook
The Language of Dehumanization
Every fascist regime begins by dehumanizing its targets. The Nazis called Jews Untermenschen (subhumans) and vermin. Mussolini’s fascists spoke of “cleansing” Italy. The language always precedes the action.
Florida, 2025: ICE dubbed a Florida operation “Operation Dirtbag.”
The enforcement bills use the term “illegal alien” exclusively — language
designed to strip personhood. DeSantis’s framing of immigrants as an “invasion”
requiring a military-style response (“Tidal Wave”) mirrors the fascist
playbook of treating a civilian population as a military threat.
What the Scholars Say
“Comparing ICE to the Gestapo is less a historical judgment than a reflection of modern anxiety — a fear that the U.S. is veering toward authoritarianism reminiscent of 1930s Germany.”
— Daniel H. Magilow, Professor of German, University of Tennessee;
co-editor-in-chief of Holocaust and Genocide Studies
“Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the streets.”
— Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota
“Masked federal agents terrorizing our communities at the behest of an authoritarian strongman has a name: fascism.”
— Senator Jeff Merkley, Oregon
“When I teach the history and memory of the Holocaust, I necessarily use historical analogy as a method of knowledge and inquiry. We learn things by comparing, as long as we do it with care.”
— Marianne Hirsch, Scholar of Holocaust Memory, Columbia University
A note on these comparisons: Drawing parallels to fascism is not the same as claiming equivalence to the Holocaust. No serious scholar equates immigration enforcement with genocide. The point, as historians emphasize, is that the early stages of every authoritarian regime share recognizable patterns — scapegoating, dehumanizing language, two-tier justice, co-opting local authorities, registration systems, and mass roundups — and those patterns are present in Florida today. The comparison is cautionary, not accusatory. It is a warning, not an equation.
Section 07
The Human Cost
These are not just numbers on a page. Behind every statistic is a family separated, a community fractured, a life disrupted or destroyed. The policies documented above affect real people — parents, children, workers, neighbors.
When Enforcement Goes Unchecked
On a Minneapolis street, 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent. The shooting was so shocking that it triggered the U.S. Senate to strip the DHS funding bill from a broader spending package entirely. This is what unchecked enforcement looks like. This is what happens when politicians build a machine and refuse to impose limits.
Every politician named on this page chose enforcement over humanity, machinery over mercy. History does not remember the bureaucrats who “just followed orders” kindly. It does not forgive the legislators who built the apparatus. It does not excuse the sheriffs who signed the papers. The record is clear. The consequences are real. The parallels are undeniable.
Section 08
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Florida politicians voted to fund ICE?
All 17 Republican US House members from Florida voted YES on H.R. 7147 (DHS Appropriations Act, FY2026) on January 22, 2026: Jimmy Patronis (FL-1), Neal Dunn (FL-2), Kat Cammack (FL-3), Aaron Bean (FL-4), John Rutherford (FL-5), Cory Mills (FL-7), Daniel Webster (FL-11), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Anna Luna (FL-13), Laurel Lee (FL-15), Vern Buchanan (FL-16), Greg Steube (FL-17), Scott Franklin (FL-18), Byron Donalds (FL-19), Brian Mast (FL-21), Maria Salazar (FL-27), and Carlos Gimenez (FL-28).
US Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio were also vocal supporters of expanded DHS/ICE operations.
Did all Florida sheriffs sign ICE agreements?
Yes. All 67 Florida county sheriffs signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, making Florida the leading state in the nation for local-federal immigration enforcement cooperation. Florida has 327 total 287(g) agreements — a 577% increase since January 2025.
How much money did Florida spend on immigration enforcement?
SB 2-C allocated $298,830,552 in state funding for immigration enforcement operations. Florida also received $13.6 million in federal funding for the Highway Safety department and $38.5 million total in federal 287(g) funding from ICE.
What is Operation Tidal Wave?
Operation Tidal Wave is a Florida-ICE partnership under 287(g) agreements that has resulted in over 10,000 arrests since April 2025. It was the first program of its kind in the nation, establishing a model for state-federal immigration enforcement cooperation.
What is a 287(g) agreement?
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows ICE to deputize state and local law enforcement officers to perform immigration enforcement functions. These agreements effectively turn local police and sheriffs into federal immigration agents. Florida has 327 such agreements — more than any other state.
Why are people comparing ICE to the Gestapo?
Holocaust scholars and historians have drawn parallels between modern ICE operations and early Nazi-era enforcement. Prof. Daniel H. Magilow (University of Tennessee, co-editor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies) notes the comparison reflects “a fear that the U.S. is veering toward authoritarianism reminiscent of 1930s Germany.”
Specific parallels include: local police co-opted into federal enforcement (Ordnungspolizei / 287(g)), mass raids targeting long-term residents (Polenaktion / Operation Tidal Wave), registration requirements, two-tier justice systems, and dehumanizing language. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called ICE “Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo.”
Scholars emphasize these comparisons are cautionary — not equating immigration enforcement with genocide, but warning that the early stages of authoritarian regimes share recognizable patterns.
Is Florida’s immigration enforcement fascist?
Multiple scholars, historians, and elected officials have identified fascist patterns in Florida’s enforcement apparatus. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley described masked federal agents as “fascism.” Holocaust educators interviewed by MPR News identified “warning signs” paralleling 1930s Germany.
Fascist indicators identified by scholars in Florida’s approach include: state-mandated cooperation with federal targeting of a specific population, financial incentives for enforcement participation, two-tier criminal penalties based on immigration status, dehumanizing language (“Operation Dirtbag,” “illegal alien,” “invasion”), a dedicated state enforcement board, and the co-opting of all local law enforcement into a federal deportation apparatus.
Columbia University Holocaust Memory scholar Marianne Hirsch notes that historical analogy is a valid “method of knowledge and inquiry” — “We learn things by comparing, as long as we do it with care.”
Sources