At a Florida Highway Patrol substation in Davie, Gov. DeSantis and other state leaders recently boasted the results of three immigration operations, including one that netted 250 arrests in Broward County.
But a week after the celebratory event, basic facts about the Broward operation — like what days they occurred, where in Broward, as well as the names and records of those arrested — remain unknown, a WLRN review has found.
WLRN raised these questions with the law enforcement agencies involved, Florida Highway Patrol, the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. None answered them.
It’s representative of the tortuous process to collect reliable information about immigration enforcement in Florida today, according to Thomas Kennedy, a consultant with the Florida Immigration Coalition (FLIC).
“You're stuck in this sort of loop, that is just infuriating,” Kennedy said.
The immediate impact — and potentially the point, Kennedy contends — is that it’s harder to gather facts about what’s happening.
”When we don't have good data to discern if racial profiling, if civil rights abuses are happening, we can't properly, or it makes it difficult for us to, advocate for those that are being harmed by these policies,” he said.
Transparency praise
The Broward press conference on May 29 was announced to the media the morning of, with three-and-a-half hours' notice.
DeSantis, flanked by law enforcement leaders in his cabinet, said “Operation Sandhill Sentinel, 9.0” focused on “repeat immigration violators and individuals with criminal history.”
The governor listed crimes, like domestic violence and assault, that were “tied to” the people arrested.
DeSantis said South Florida is safer as a result. Dave Kerner, the executive director of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, praised the governor and his agency’s transparency.
Kerner’s agency oversees the Florida Highway Patrol, which has transformed from a traffic-focused state agency into an engine for immigration enforcement.
That authority stems from a federal program known as 287(g). FHP has embraced it since President Trump returned to the presidency and began a nationwide crackdown on immigrants without legal status. Kerner recently told Fox News that troopers have arrested more than 10,000 undocumented immigrants since early 2025.
“We’re very proud of our work product. We’re very proud of our ability to be transparent about it,” Kerner said at the press conference.
“It’s important as law enforcement officers and as representatives of the government that we communicate with the public about what we do and how we do it,” he said.
Questions unanswered
After the press conference, WLRN reached out with specific questions about the operation — information that was not provided there: What days did it take place? Where in Broward County? How many detained immigrants had criminal records and how many did not?
Kerner’s deputy director of communications, Madison Kessler, responded and linked to the press release — which had no different information — and suggested watching a video of the press conference.
WLRN followed back up, and asked for an interview with a FHP official to explain more about the operation.
Kessler did not respond.
WLRN then called FHP’s public information officer for the Broward region, Lt. Indiana Miranda, twice, and left a voicemail.
The outlet also sent a public records request to FHP, which has not been answered.
The ‘loop’
WLRN went to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, which has historically been against participating in immigration sweeps, to seek information.
Reached by phone, Veda Coleman-Wright — director of the public information office — said that BSO was both required to participate in the operation and could not answer any questions.
WLRN followed up with a public records request, which was denied.
“I need to refer you back to (DHS). The feds have the arrest paperwork. Our folks don’t have a list or copies,” Coleman-Wright wrote in an email.
WLRN emailed DHS. The South Florida spokesperson for U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement, which DHS oversees, is Nestor Yglesias.
Yglesias went on Operation Sandhill Sentinel and told Fox News about it.
Asked by WLRN for an interview about his first-hand account, Yglesias declined.
“FHP was the lead I would refer you to them,” he wrote.
Activist films operation
One of the few places to learn more about FHP’s operations has been the Facebook page of a conservative activist. He has had a front-row seat to these operations and films them for his viewers.
Ben Bergquam is unabashedly pro-Trump and pro-immigration enforcement, riding along on operations with FHP and ICE.
“It’s 6 a.m. We’re here in Broward County. Going out on a joint op in Florida Highway Patrol,” Bergquam said in his video on the operation. “Going to catch some bad guys. Let’s roll.”
In his video, Bergquam interviews an immigration officer, films arrested immigrants on the side of Florida highways being loaded into police cars and shows the faces of the detained in the Davie FHP station where they were processed.
Bergquam admittedly injects his opinion into the encounters, which he said he supports. He blamed the prior presidential administration under President Biden.
“The only reason they’re getting picked up now is because of the operation that ICE is jointly (doing) with state troopers,” he said. “God bless ICE.”
On Friday, WLRN briefly reached Bergquam by phone and asked for an interview about what he saw.
He politely declined and said, for specifics, it would be best to reach out to law enforcement.
