New Report Exposes Stark Racial Disparities in Florida Traffic Stops as Street-Level Immigration Enforcement Expands

MIAMI, FL (April 23, 2026) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and LatinoJustice PRLDEF today released a new report, “Discrimination in Overdrive,” unveiling severe racial disparities within Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) traffic enforcement practices.

Drawing on public records data from 2022 and 2024, the report exposes rampant and systematic disparities within FHP’s enforcement practices, with Black and Hispanic drivers facing the brunt of racial profiling practices. Even though Black people make up only 15% of Florida’s population, Black drivers are the most disproportionately overrepresented group for traffic stops. It also finds that Hispanic drivers are arrested at nearly twice their representation in traffic stops and face 2.1 times higher odds of arrest — inequities that Florida’s aggressive expansion of 287(g) agreements is poised to worsen.

In 2022, Gov. DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1808, making Florida the first state to mandate 287(g) participation for all law enforcement agencies operating county detention facilities — expanding programs long associated with racial profiling and civil rights violations. In 2025, FHP went even further, becoming the first state agency in the nation to enter into a “Task Force Model” 287(g) agreement, effectively transforming state law enforcement into a deportation force.

“When racial profiling becomes policy, traffic enforcement is no longer focused on public safety – it becomes an instrument of injustice,” said Bacardi Jackson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. “FHP has a long, documented history of discriminatory enforcement, where Black Floridians have been targeted by suspicion, stereotypes, and unjust arrests for generations. Now those same harms have spread into Hispanic communities fueled by the cruel rhetoric and anti-immigrant agenda of state leadership. We are witnessing routine traffic stops being weaponized to drive deportation in real time – threatening the due process and equal protection rights of every person in Florida. This pattern of state-sanctioned harassment must end –and those entrusted with oversight must be held accountable.”

The report concludes that systemic disparities exist within FHP enforcement practices, as evidenced by consistent, statistically significant racial and ethnic disparities that cannot be
explained by violation type, driver gender, or other measured factors. Among other key findings, it discovered disparities are most pronounced in troops covering areas predominantly white regions with smaller Hispanic populations, indicating that bias may be most severe where minority drivers are most visible or vulnerable.

Additionally, the concentration of arrests of Hispanic drivers suggests that license violations may be serving as a proxy for immigration enforcement, potentially transforming routine traffic violations into entry points for the deportation pipeline. These disparities are not random or incidental but represent persistent patterns that raise serious constitutional concerns.

“In a state with one of the largest Latino populations in the country, these unfair traffic enforcement patterns spread fear and mistrust,” said Stephanie Cordero, Senior Counsel for Immigrant Rights at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “When Latino immigrant drivers are twice as likely to be arrested for traffic violations, it sows fear and makes our communities less safe. Racial profiling doesn’t just break the law; it breaks trust and tears families apart. No one should have to worry that being pulled over could lead to detention or deportation.”

The report warns that without significant reforms to address bias in traffic enforcement, Florida's unprecedented expansion of 287(g) agreements will exacerbate racial profiling, undermine public safety, and expose the state to costly litigation and potential civil rights investigations.

The full report can be seen here.

About the ACLU of Florida

The ACLU of Florida, the state affiliate of the national ACLU, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the civil liberties and rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Through litigation, legislation, and public education, the ACLU of Florida strives to ensure that the rights and freedoms of all Floridians are protected. For more information, visit https://www.aclufl.org.