ICE

A man that a local community group said was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement agents Friday has been identified by the Department of Homeland Security.

A food distribution event organized by the SWFL Coalition for Democracy at the New Image Tabernacle Church in North Fort Myers on Friday and Saturday served more than 150 people.

A handful of people protested outside a U.S. Department of Homeland Security office in Fort Myers Friday after reports that a man arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents was related to a legal observer of ICE.

Despite news that the last detainee is gone from the immigration detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz, the environmental groups that sued to shut it down gathered online Wednesday to make it known that they are nowhere near done.

Trump’s immigration crackdown has met with fierce resistance in Democratic-led sanctuary cities, where police are forbidden from assisting and many locals view the masked federal agents as an invading force. That hasn’t been the case in Republican-led Florida, though, where about 350 state and local agencies have signed on to take part in the crackdown. Although Florida immigration arrests have more than tripled during Trump's second term, the surge has largely flown under the public’s radar, as many start as run-of-the-mill police traffic stops, the public seems more supportive of the initiative, and participating state and local agencies are roundly rejecting requests for arrest records and body camera video at the behest of the Department of Homeland Security.

A new directive from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, issued in secrecy, bars local law enforcement agencies across Florida from answering questions about their role in immigration enforcement, raising concerns about transparency and whether public records are being lawfully observed.

A lawyer says guards severely beat and pepper-sprayed detainees at a state-run immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida Everglades. A lawyer for two of the detainees says the beating happened after they complained about not having phone access on April 2. The lawyer says the guards taunted and then attacked the detainees. Guards punched one of her clients in the face and broke another detainee's wrist. Phone service was restored the next day without explanation. The allegations are detailed in a court filing accusing officials of not complying with a judge's order to provide proper phone access for legal calls.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are no longer present at the Southwest International Airport (RSW) as of Sunday, April 5, according to Steve Hennigan, executive director and CEO of the Lee County Port Authority. Hennigan updated members of the Chamber of Southwest Florida with this information on Wednesday's presentation to the group about airport developments.

No Kings III events in Southwest Florida make up some of the more than 3,100 rallies and related gatherings across the United States and other parts of the world planned to be held on Saturday.

Federal immigration agents are free and clear to do what they see fit while working with members of the Transportation Security Administration at Southwest Florida International Airport. That’s the assessment of Cecil Pendergrass, a Lee County Commissioner and chairman of the Lee County Port Authority.