Florida: the frontline of Trump's immigration crackdown

Published July 20, 2025 at 9:38 AM EDT

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, on July 1, 2025. Trump was visiting the opening of a 5,000-bed migrant detention center in a reptile-infested Florida swamp dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."

NPR correspondent Jasmine Garsd has taken several reporting trips to Florida recently, a state seeing some of the most aggressive immigration enforcement since President Trump took office again in January. She's spoken with children separated from their parents and reported on a new massive detention center in the state.

For our weekly Reporter's Notebook series Garsd talks about how Florida is key to understanding what the future of immigration enforcement may look like.

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