ACLU of Florida v. FDLE

  • Latest Update: Jul 01, 2025
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Summary

In August and September 2022, we sent the Florida Department of Law Enforcement requests for records related to Executive Order 21-223 and 2022’s Senate Bill 1808 (seeking information regarding enforcement efforts against undocumented immigrants who the state claims have traveled to Florida from the U.S.-Mexico border). We filed a public-records complaint on July 19, 2023. The FDLE filed their response on September 5, 2023, saying they were understaffed.

At a hearing in October 2023, the court ordered the FDLE to produce the records within 45 days. The FDLE encountered a delay after producing just two records. Due to internal turmoil at FDLE caused by the Governor’s office in connection with a separate public-records lawsuit, FDLE counsel in the case resigned. Subsequently, FDLE made successive productions of records revealing that state and local officers had initiated stops and made dozens of immigration-related arrests without federal authority, as part of a border strike force at the direction of Governor DeSantis, since October 2021.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement refused to produce records regarding enforcement efforts against undocumented immigrants under Executive Order 21-223 and S.B. 1808. After much delay, the records revealed a concerning history of unauthorized stops and arrests by local officers. This lawsuit sought to increase the transparency of Florida’s law enforcement agencies and prevent unlawful activity.

The Latest: We received the final production of records in Summer 2025.