The conversation around racial profiling by federal authorities has been thrust into the spotlight in recent days after a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops in Southern California over such concerns.
Now, attorneys and advocates are raising alarms over racial profiling in Florida, especially after a recent report by The Miami Herald.
In it, immigration attorney Magdalena Cuprys said one of her clients, a Honduran man with a pending asylum claim, was detained by Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) on June 25 despite holding a valid driver's license. The Honduran man called her when he was stopped and an FHP officer took the phone and told her that anyone who "appears Hispanic" needs to be sent to CBP to have their license verified, she said.
WOW. A lawyer says that a Florida Highway Patrol agent told her that they are calling Border Patrol to investigate anyone who "appears Hispanic" that they pull over.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) July 15, 2025
That is direct evidence of racial profiling — said over the phone to a lawyer! They aren't even hiding it! https://t.co/bOzwo4ySiy pic.twitter.com/MIXtVqD3Dv
Florida Highway Patrol denied the allegation, stating no such instructions had been issued.
In her order, Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong cited a "mountain of evidence" showing that federal agents had been stopping and detaining individuals during immigration sweeps in southern California based on race, accent, or perceived immigrant-related work without reasonable suspicion, thus violating the Fourth Amendment.
Thomas Homan, Trump's border czar, defended the administration's approach recently during an interview on Fox News, stating that profiling is "a reality of smart policing" and necessary to target undocumented migrants effectively:
"Look, people need to understand, ICE officers and Border Patrol don't need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them. They just need totality of the circumstances, right? They just go through the observation, get our typical facts — based on the location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions"
Homan: "People need to understand ICE officers and Border Patrol don't need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them ... based on their physical appearance."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-07-11T14:00:48.971Z
Congressman Daniel Goldman (NY-10) responded swiftly to the border czar's assessment via Bluesky, labeling it as"patently false:"
This is patently false. DHS has authority to question and search people coming into the country at points of entry. But ICE may not detain and question anyone without reasonable suspicion — and certainly not based on their physical appearance alone. This lawlessness must stop.
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman.dg4ny.co) 2025-07-11T16:29:08.759Z
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