“Most states are doing nothing. … We’re one of the few states that’s — we may even be the only state that’s — really full throttle, saying, ‘You know, we’re not going to solve this problem unless we are part of the team,’” DeSantis said during remarks at the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention facility in the Everglades on Tuesday.

This week, President Donald Trump visited the first state-constructed immigrant detention facility, and he validated DeSantis’s efforts, adding that Florida was leading the charge.

“I want to express my tremendous thanks to the state of Florida for embracing this opportunity and being a true partner,” Trump said. “They’ve worked so well with the federal government. It’s been a just a beautiful, beautiful partnership. Ron, I’d like to thank you personally.”

Immigration has shifted from being a border matter in the Biden era to being increasingly focused on interior enforcement during the Trump era. It means states that step up to help with detention and deportations will become the biggest allies to the White House.

Florida has stepped up to facilitate interior enforcement in ways that no other state has, but others may soon follow suit.

Florida goes all-in

Less than a month after Trump took office, the Florida legislature passed and DeSantis signed into law a package of bills that signified the toughest crackdown on illegal immigration in state history. The laws were meant to supplement the Trump administration’s promised “largest-ever” deportation operation.

The state created a State Board of Immigration Enforcement and required local police to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to turn over illegal immigrants to federal authorities. Florida repealed a law that allowed illegal immigrant students to pay in-state tuition at state schools and made it illegal for someone without legal immigration status to enter the state from another state.

It also included nearly $300 million to train and outfit local police to help ICE arrest illegal immigrants. Officers who help ICE will even get bonuses.

Local police at sheriff’s departments were deputized under what are known as federal 287(g) agreements to carry out federal immigration laws, including alerting ICE if they encounter an illegal immigrant during a traffic stop, detaining illegal immigrants on the federal government’s behalf, and transferring them to federal custody.

Florida now accounts for 60% of all federal-state 287(g) partnerships, DeSantis announced last week.

Normally, ICE oversees the standing up of those facilities, but the federal agency has struggled to find adequate bed space to detain as many illegal immigrants as ICE is arresting nationwide and hold on to them as they go through deportation proceedings in court.

In this case, the Department of Homeland Security directly contacted state officials about using a quiet, remote airstrip to put up a soft-sided series of structures in which ICE detainees could be held pending court hearings. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Florida officials were happy to help.

“The reason why it’s needed is because a lot of our jails in Florida are full,” Donalds said. “Our sheriffs have been doing a great job answering the call given to them by the governor to go out and really arrest criminal illegals and begin the transportation of them to ICE. ICE is still waiting for the resources they need from Congress. … A facility like this helps to fill the gap so we can continue the mission of, No. 1, keeping Florida safe, but No. 2, addressing the mandate given to the American people.”

DeSantis added that there was “no reason” other states could not do the same thing.

“If only the red states did this, they would be able to expand their capacity by tens of thousands, maybe 50, 100,000 in a given day,” DeSantis said.

Other states lend a hand

During the Biden administration, Texas was the most vocal state on border and immigration matters. The difference is that it was not a partner to Washington but an enemy that lamented how former President Joe Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas didn’t address the crisis at the southern border.

Early in the Trump administration, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) offered state National Guard soldiers to be deputized as federal immigration agents and offered its stretch of buoy barrier floating in the Rio Grande as an asset to the federal government.

Abbott also offered the Trump administration access to 4,000 vacant prison beds across Texas for the federal government’s detention of illegal immigrants in custody, but nothing came of it.

Oklahoma had suggested before Trump took office to turn over 500 imprisoned illegal immigrants in state prisons to ICE officers.

Some states have passed laws banning sanctuary cities, while others, like Tennessee, have passed legislation that would allow criminal charges to be brought against local elected officials who vote to keep sanctuary policies.

TRUMP’S APPROVAL OF USING NATIONAL GUARD AS IMMIGRATION JUDGES FACES BLOWBACK

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has called on other states to follow Florida’s example and contact the Trump administration about finding space to erect their own ICE facilities to help speed up arrests and deportations.

“This facility is exactly what I want every single governor in this country to begin doing with us,” Noem said in the Everglades on Tuesday. “Thank you to Gov. DeSantis for stepping up and being an example to other governors. I hope my phone rings off the hook from governors calling and saying, ‘How can we do what Florida just did?’”