Florida Sheriffs Are Waiting on Promised Reimbursements for Immigration Work

Sheriff’s offices and police departments across Florida arrested thousands of immigrants last year to help the federal government, but some are still waiting to be reimbursed for officers’ overtime pay and promised bonuses.

Florida created a $250 million fund for local law enforcement taking part in immigration efforts as part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push for maximum collaboration by the state in President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign. The grant fund also included $1,000 bonuses for personnel acting as immigration agents.

The Florida Cabinet, acting as the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, approved more than $60 million to local law enforcement from September to February for detaining immigrants on behalf of the federal government, including nearly $5 million in overtime and over $3 million for one-time bonuses for personnel.

Florida law enforcement agencies have been at the forefront of the push to deputize cops for deportation efforts, which Trump is seeking to expand dramatically this term. Florida has more partnerships with Immigration and Customs Enforcement than any other state through the 287(g) program, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to designate officers as immigration agents. But as the state’s payouts show, these partnerships come at a cost.

Just over $1 million of the $60 million in approved funding has been disbursed to eight sheriffs’ offices and two local governments, according to Florida’s transparency website, which doesn’t specify whether the funds are for jail beds loaned to ICE, equipment or money for personnel.

Fourteen local law enforcement, correctional agencies and governments told NOTUS they are awaiting funds to pay bonuses and overtime to personnel for training to act as immigration agents, administering warrants to immigrants in jails, transporting detainees on behalf of ICE and participating in operations.

So far, the state board has approved 62 entities’ applications to receive funds for employees, according to a NOTUS review.

The state has touted the immigration enforcement awards with fanfare. Blaise Ingoglia, Florida’s chief financial officer, has traveled around the state to deliver giant reimbursement checks.

“There is no way we can have mass immigration enforcement without cooperation between the federal government, the state government and our local law enforcement partners,” Ingoglia said during a Feb. 26 press conference at the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. “Now, it is not fair that the federal government created this problem and that we put mandates on local law enforcement partners and say, ‘Hey, we want you to take care of all this, and we’re not going to reimburse you or give you the resources.’ That’s not us. That’s not what Florida is about.”

But some sheriffs’ offices and one police department that took part in those press conferences have yet to receive funds requested for overtime and bonuses for their officers.

Although the check Ingoglia delivered to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office last month was for $577,021.44, the state’s transparency website shows the office has received $21,500. Its public information officer did not respond to questions about the discrepancy between the check and the funds outlined on the website or whether any of the funds had gone toward overtime.

A spokesperson for Ingoglia said in a statement that the checks are based on amounts the board previously approved and that reimbursements come from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on a rolling basis. The spokesperson directed NOTUS’ questions to the department, which did not respond.

In Seminole County, which comprises cities north of Orlando, Ingoglia presented the sheriff’s office a $1 million award for immigration enforcement in January. Through February, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office has requested reimbursement for $64,823.33 under the grant, with $7,321.89 for overtime and $30,142 for bonuses for corrections officers, said Bob Kealing, the sheriff’s public information administrator, in a statement to NOTUS.

“We have not received reimbursement yet,” Kealing said. “The requests are currently going through the review process.”

Polk County and Marion County sheriffs’ offices are in a similar position. Ingoglia presented a commemorative check for over $1 million to Polk County Sheriff’s Office in January. The office is awaiting nearly $39,000 in reimbursements.

“We don’t have a timeline for reimbursement,” said Carrie Horstman, the media relations administrator for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office requested $46,592.67 at the beginning of the year for overtime expenses incurred from October to December, its public information director said.

All three sheriff’s offices requested overtime funds for their officers transporting immigrants for ICE, according to their applications approved in September.

Marie Reese, the professional standards coordinator at the Naples Police Department, said the state hadn’t reimbursed the department for overtime, which the city had paid.

At least one sheriff’s office has received the bonuses. The Hardee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to NOTUS that officers received the $1,000 bonuses last week. Other law enforcement agencies and departments said they haven’t requested the award the board approved because they had not incurred any overtime costs or members of their staff were not yet eligible for bonuses.

The board reimbursed Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Southwest Florida $62,000 for housing detainees in its jail but it had not handed out funds for bonuses, its spokesperson said.

Only personnel who have been credentialed by the federal government to act as immigration agents and have participated in at least one operation are eligible for the $1,000 bonuses, according to the statute. Correctional officers collaborating with ICE can get the bonus if they’ve been designated to enforce warrants for immigrants eligible for deportation for at least six months.

DeSantis said in January that state and local law enforcement were involved in 20,000 immigration arrests in 2025. An analysis by The Miami Herald corroborated the figure.

The sheriff’s offices in Sarasota County and Palm Beach County rescinded their requests for bonuses in late February. Matthew Binkley, the public information officer for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, told Florida Phoenix that the agency canceled the bonus application because it valued “fairness” between personnel.