All 67 of Florida’s county sheriffs have signed agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to support President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday.

“We’re the only state in the country where all of the counties have done this,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Homestead.

What’s next is reaching similar agreements with more than 400 police departments in the state, DeSantis said.

Under the new agreements, sheriff’s deputies gain more immigration enforcement power with ICE supervision. Local sheriff’s offices will be able to interrogate suspected illegal immigrants, arrest and detain people caught trying to enter Florida illegally and serve or execute warrants for immigration violations.

Critics say the state is unfairly targeting some people who have lived in Florida for decades and pay taxes after they entered the country illegally years ago.

The sheriff’s agreements come as Florida Highway Patrol and several other state agencies have reached similar deals with the federal government.

DeSantis detailed some of the law enforcement’s arrests so far — including two undocumented immigrants from Jamaica arrested for distributing fentanyl in the Panhandle, he said. In another case, Florida Highway Patrol and Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested someone who arrived illegally into the United States and was wanted for state and federal child pornography charges, DeSantis said.

The Governor also continued to slam former President Joe Biden for not doing enough to deport illegal immigrants.

“When Biden was President, there were these people (who) were just knowingly out there. They knew that some of these people were out there, and they just decided not to do anything about it,” DeSantis said. “Those days are over, and I’m glad Florida is part of the solution.”

Part of the package of immigration bills passed earlier this month provides $250 million in reimbursement for local enforcement’s expenses to get involved.

Democrats voiced frustrations that state taxpayers are footing the bill for immigration instead of the federal government. 

At his news conference, DeSantis reiterated that he supports a bill requiring all employers — including small employers with fewer than 25 workers — to use E-Verify to confirm employees’ legal work status.

Sen. Jason Pizzo, Democrat from Sunny Isles Beach, filed SB 782 earlier this month after he accused Republicans of not doing enough during the Special Session to target employers who hire illegal workers, which he said was the root of the problem.

DeSantis said he believes the Legislature will pass it when Regular Session reconvenes next month.

“We want to make sure that we get that signed into law as soon as possible,” DeSantis said.

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Ahead of the Florida Governor’s appearance in South Florida Wednesday, the sound system played Lara Trump’s version of “I Won’t Back Down.”

But on the political burning question of the day, he did back down, contradicting the lyrics penned by Tom Petty and reinterpreted more recently by the former Republican National Committee co-Chair.

On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis demurred when asked to discuss the upcoming gubernatorial election.

“I want to focus today not on the ’26 Election but on vindicating the ’24 election by showing that we’re going to get this job done here. You know, you have these elections and then people start talking about new elections. Why don’t we actually get something done based off the previous election?”

DeSantis made the comments in Homestead during a news conference about immigration that had federal representation. He said President Donald Trump, who endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds over First Lady Casey DeSantis this week, “deserves all Republicans in particular to be supporting those efforts.”

DeSantis’ demurral in discussing the election to succeed him deviates from recent past practice.

“You got a guy like Byron Donalds; he just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here over the Left over these last years. He’s just not been a part of it,” DeSantis said earlier this week in Tampa.

The Governor has said the First Lady could take his administration’s accomplishments “to the next level.”

He also has said long-deceased conservative leader Rush Limbaugh endorsed her years ago, as her uncompromising worldview entranced him at a dinner where she was “just holding court with Rush about conservatism and all this other stuff.”

“And so at the end of the dinner, he just put his finger in my chest. He’s like, ‘The only person I would rather have as my Governor than you is her.’ And he pointed at her. And I was like, that’s a pretty good endorsement there.”

Though Rush Limbaugh may be with Casey DeSantis in spirit, Republicans who are still alive are backing Donalds. Sen. Randy Fine and Reps. Yvette Benarroch, Berny Jacques, Toby Overdorf, and Juan Porras are among the Florida politicians supporting the Naples Republican.

Others are quieter but seemingly on board, including a member of leadership who tells Florida Politics that the Governor’s management style rankles House Republicans and see Casey DeSantis as a third term bid by the incumbent.

Ron DeSantis memorably wrangled endorsements from the vast majority of legislative Republicans ahead of his presidential bid, which started formally after the 2023 Session but had a soft launch when lawmakers were deliberating. It remains to be seen if the same political capital will be available for Casey’s bid for her husband’s office.

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