ACLU: Hispanic drivers twice as likely to be arrested by Florida troopers than white drivers
By Jake Shore
April 23, 2026 at 10:00 AM EDT
Hispanic drivers were twice as likely to be arrested by Florida Highway Patrol than white drivers during traffic stops, according to a report released Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
The ACLU researchers examined approximately 733,000 traffic stops across the state between August 2022 and March 2024 and found stark racial disparities, the report said.
Notably, the group’s examination ended about a year before FHP inked a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February 2025. That agreement has empowered over 1,800 troopers statewide to enforce immigration law during routine police work and supercharged the arrests of undocumented immigrants in Florida.
“The evidence suggests that bias may be amplified through 287(g)’s delegation of federal immigration enforcement authority, as FHP already demonstrates significant racial disparities,” the ACLU report claimed.
A spokesperson for Florida Highway Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
Dave Kerner, the executive director of FHP’s parent agency, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, defended the agency’s 287(g) agreement to Fox News last May against complaints of racial profiling.
“There’s going to be people that disagree with what we're doing, but we're executing on a mission that is before us,” Kerner said. “We have a lawful duty and powers to investigate people's status in the United States as a result of that delegation of authority.”
Accusations of racial profiling have increased during Florida’s all-out crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Profiling is difficult to prove. Previous reporting by WLRN identified potential issues in how FHP troopers are classifying race on traffic records. WLRN examined one trooper who patrols a majority-Hispanic city and claimed in his paperwork he did not ticket or arrest a single Hispanic driver in over 100 cases in roughly a year.
Officers of the Florida Highway Patrol, left, look on as Gov. Ron DeSantis arrives for a press conference about a recent immigration enforcement operation, at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (6000x4000, AR: 1.5)
FHP’s classifications leave little room for nuance: they allow troopers to identify drivers as “W” (White), “B” (Black), “I” (American Indian), “H” (Hispanic), “A” (Asian) or “O” (Other), according to an agency manual.
Yet — even with the potential for Hispanic drivers to be misclassified as white — Hispanics made up a disproportionate share of drivers arrested for traffic violations, according to the ACLU.
Drivers classified as Hispanic comprised slightly more than a quarter of all traffic stops but 43% of arrests, the data found.
Additionally, drivers marked as black were statistically overrepresented in stops — 22% — and arrests — 28% — compared to the population size, which is 15%.
Drivers classified as white made up nearly half of all stops, 45%, but only about a quarter of arrests.
The disparities worsened with license violations, according to the report.
Troopers can only learn if a person is driving without a valid license after they pull them over. In Florida, it’s an arrestable offense and that means officers have discretion over whether to haul the person to jail or let them off with a ticket.
“The fact that officers chose to arrest Hispanic drivers for license violations at nearly double the rate of other drivers, despite all drivers being equally subject to arrest for this offense, demonstrates differential enforcement that cannot be explained by legal requirements and suggests bias in arrest decision-making,” the report stated.
Thousands of immigrants arrested by FHP troopers
The ACLU’s findings do not include any data from this past year, when the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration went into full effect. Gov. DeSantis’ administration has worked diligently to fulfill Trump’s deportation mandate, and FHP has been the tip of the spear.
Since last August, FHP has arrested approximately 6,600 people on federal immigration charges across the state. Those figures are likely an undercount, as the state only started reporting data four months after FHP signed on to 287(g).
Last month, an FHP press release touted an operation with U.S. Border Patrol in Key Largo.
“The Florida Highway Patrol leads in the apprehension and arrest of criminal illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes here or abroad,” Kerner said in the release.
About one-fourth of all immigration arrests in Florida, via ICE, Border Patrol or any 287(g) agency, were for people without a criminal record, according to a WLRN analysis of the Deportation Data Project from January 2025 to March 2026.
Just under 45% were for those who had “pending criminal charges” and approximately 30% were for “convicted criminals,” the data obtained from ICE shows. ICE gets to define what comprises a criminal charge or conviction. In its data, the agency doesn’t differentiate between felony and misdemeanor or violent and nonviolent crimes.
The ACLU researchers examined approximately 733,000 traffic stops across the state between August 2022 and March 2024 and found stark racial disparities, the report said.
Notably, the group’s examination ended about a year before FHP inked a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February 2025. That agreement has empowered over 1,800 troopers statewide to enforce immigration law during routine police work and supercharged the arrests of undocumented immigrants in Florida.
“The evidence suggests that bias may be amplified through 287(g)’s delegation of federal immigration enforcement authority, as FHP already demonstrates significant racial disparities,” the ACLU report claimed.
A spokesperson for Florida Highway Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
Dave Kerner, the executive director of FHP’s parent agency, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, defended the agency’s 287(g) agreement to Fox News last May against complaints of racial profiling.
“There’s going to be people that disagree with what we're doing, but we're executing on a mission that is before us,” Kerner said. “We have a lawful duty and powers to investigate people's status in the United States as a result of that delegation of authority.”
Accusations of racial profiling have increased during Florida’s all-out crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Profiling is difficult to prove. Previous reporting by WLRN identified potential issues in how FHP troopers are classifying race on traffic records. WLRN examined one trooper who patrols a majority-Hispanic city and claimed in his paperwork he did not ticket or arrest a single Hispanic driver in over 100 cases in roughly a year.
Officers of the Florida Highway Patrol, left, look on as Gov. Ron DeSantis arrives for a press conference about a recent immigration enforcement operation, at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (6000x4000, AR: 1.5)
FHP’s classifications leave little room for nuance: they allow troopers to identify drivers as “W” (White), “B” (Black), “I” (American Indian), “H” (Hispanic), “A” (Asian) or “O” (Other), according to an agency manual.
Yet — even with the potential for Hispanic drivers to be misclassified as white — Hispanics made up a disproportionate share of drivers arrested for traffic violations, according to the ACLU.
Drivers classified as Hispanic comprised slightly more than a quarter of all traffic stops but 43% of arrests, the data found.
Additionally, drivers marked as black were statistically overrepresented in stops — 22% — and arrests — 28% — compared to the population size, which is 15%.
Drivers classified as white made up nearly half of all stops, 45%, but only about a quarter of arrests.
The disparities worsened with license violations, according to the report.
Troopers can only learn if a person is driving without a valid license after they pull them over. In Florida, it’s an arrestable offense and that means officers have discretion over whether to haul the person to jail or let them off with a ticket.
“The fact that officers chose to arrest Hispanic drivers for license violations at nearly double the rate of other drivers, despite all drivers being equally subject to arrest for this offense, demonstrates differential enforcement that cannot be explained by legal requirements and suggests bias in arrest decision-making,” the report stated.
Thousands of immigrants arrested by FHP troopers
The ACLU’s findings do not include any data from this past year, when the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration went into full effect. Gov. DeSantis’ administration has worked diligently to fulfill Trump’s deportation mandate, and FHP has been the tip of the spear.
Since last August, FHP has arrested approximately 6,600 people on federal immigration charges across the state. Those figures are likely an undercount, as the state only started reporting data four months after FHP signed on to 287(g).
Last month, an FHP press release touted an operation with U.S. Border Patrol in Key Largo.
“The Florida Highway Patrol leads in the apprehension and arrest of criminal illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes here or abroad,” Kerner said in the release.
About one-fourth of all immigration arrests in Florida, via ICE, Border Patrol or any 287(g) agency, were for people without a criminal record, according to a WLRN analysis of the Deportation Data Project from January 2025 to March 2026.
Just under 45% were for those who had “pending criminal charges” and approximately 30% were for “convicted criminals,” the data obtained from ICE shows. ICE gets to define what comprises a criminal charge or conviction. In its data, the agency doesn’t differentiate between felony and misdemeanor or violent and nonviolent crimes.