Today's my last day at Florida Phoenix. Covering politics in Florida has been an extremely rewarding way to start my career. I've met so many inspiring people in the Capitol press corps. Thank you to everyone who has trusted me to share their stories over the past 2 years!

Deportation flights have started at the state-run immigrant detention center in the Everglades, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday. 100 people held at the notorious site in an old airstrip have been deported, DeSantis said. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/25/d...

ICE arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions in Florida rose by more than 450% this June compared to last year. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/24/i...

Gov. Ron DeSantis this week has been promoting his commitment to Everglades restoration amid the backlash and legal challenges to his construction of an immigrant detention center on an airstrip in the wetland ecosystem. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/18/d...

People in Florida's immigrant detention center sued Trump and DeSantis admins yesterday, demanding access to their attorneys. DHS says: "No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States, and yet all they do is complain."

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams is now presiding over the suit to halt Florida's detention center in the Everglades. The previous judge recused himself today. This means Williams could order a stop to the detention center that AG Uthmeier has been at the forefront of.

DeSantis appears to be cooling off, for now at least, on a plan to build a second state-run immigrant detention center at Camp Blanding. He said he won’t consider building another temporary detention facility until the one in the Everglades reaches capacity. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/16/i...

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida asked Monday to join a lawsuit to stop the further construction and operation of the state-run immigrant detention center in the Everglades. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/15/m...

Miami Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia is one of the state lawmakers who plans to tour the immigrant detention center in the Everglades this Saturday. "I've come across some complaints in the media that I'd like to investigate for myself," she told me via text.

Fla. AG James Uthmeier had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to remove a temporary block on enforcement of the state's entry and re-entry law, which police and state troopers carried out even after the judge barred it. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/09/s...

Florida is moving to solidify its renaming of the training airport where the detention center in the Everglades is located to “Alligator Alcatraz.” But immigrant and environmental advocates and indigenous leaders have criticized the name. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/03/p...

The feds are disavowing responsibility for the Everglades immigration center the morning after people awaiting deportation arrived. DHS didn't fund or authorize the detention center, counsel for the department wrote in a filing opposing a suit to halt the site. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/03/f...

Trump urged additional states to build immigrant detention centers following his tour Tuesday of the 3,000-capacity tent and trailer Everglades facility the DeSantis administration built in eight days. floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/01/t...

U.S. judge Kathleen Williams finds AG James Uthmeier in contempt of court after he disobeyed her court order blocking a new state immigration law. She quotes Humpty Dumpty.

Petition “no drama” llama to attend all protests 🙋🏻‍♀️

The majority of the crowd has left the #NoKingsProtest in Tallahassee, but hundreds are still chanting and holding signs in front of the Florida Historic Capitol. More than a thousand showed up starting at 10 a.m.

Timelapse showing the crowd of thousands in Tallahassee for #NoKingsProtest. No arrests at this time, police tell me.

Brizeida Patiño, 19, told me she came to the #NoKingsProtest in Tallahassee on behalf of her parents, who immigrated from Mexico.

This is easily the largest protest in Tallahassee since President Donald Trump took office. #NoKingsProtest started in front of the Florida Historic Capitol at 10 a.m. with over 1,000 in attendance.

In an early blow to groups attempting to get amendments on the ballot for the 2026 election, a federal judge declined on Wednesday to temporarily block most of the new restrictions on citizen-led initiatives. floridaphoenix.com/2025/06/04/f...

Full story: floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/30/c...

I’m at the immigration court in Miami, where at around 9:30 a.m. a Cuban man started choking himself and saying was going to commit suicide after he was arrested by federal officials.

A federal judge locked horns repeatedly with the prominent lawyer defending AG James Uthmeier during a hearing Thursday on potential sanctions against the state’s top legal officer amid a suit over a new state immigration law. floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/29/u...

Excited about joining @notusreports.bsky.social as a fellow covering Congress! Don't delete me from your Florida media lists just yet, I'll be sticking around Tallahassee until late July. aji.org/news/allbrit...

Story with the statements Uthmeier said to Fox News today on facing sanctions over the suspended state immigration law: floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/02/d...

Fla. AG James Uthemeier says he plans to release a statement later today about a federal judge considering holding him in contempt over his letter labeling the judge's order blocking enforcement of a new state immigration law as illegitimate.

Another story today based on the suit... 1) Federal judge extended the block on the immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen 2) Uthmeier could face sanctions for violating the court's TRO. TBD at a May 29 hearing. 3) State appealed judge's order to 11th Circuit.

Here’s the full story: floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/29/u-s…

Federal judge in Miami grilled an attorney representing AG Uthmeier over his 4/23 letter telling law enforcement he couldn’t stop them from enforcing an immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen.Full story coming soon!

NEW: Florida settled a suit Monday accusing the former FEMA head and a supervisor of discrimination against Trump supporters during disaster relief efforts following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/28/f...

ICYMI yesterday: Fla. House voted both to require parental consent for health care providers to treat minors with STIs and to let older teens work full-time hours during the school year without their parents’ permission.

Report: People needing assistance in Spanish from DCF's call center wait on hold for nearly an hour. That wait time is an improvement from 2023, when Spanish speakers waited an average of 120 minutes for help. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/24/d...

Fla's AG sent a letter to law enforcement today stating that he won’t stop them from enforcing a temporarily blocked state immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen last week. More below!

🚨The Department of Homeland Security is blaming a U.S. citizen for his arrest during a traffic stop in Leon County last week under a temporarily blocked state immigration law.

ICE is in custody of Estiven Sales-Perez. I went with his uncle to the field office where the online system states Sales-Perez is being held. We were not allowed in.

UPDATE: A federal judge brought up the arrest in Leon County of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen born in Georgia, during a hearing Friday in which she extended her block of the new Florida immigration law until April 29. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/18/f...

BREAKING: Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez has been released. This is the moment he reunited with his mom.

Protest happening at the Leon County jail where Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, who was born in the U.S. , is being held after his arrest for illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien.”

I’m at the Leon County Jail with the mom of the 20 year old U.S. citizens arrested for illegally entering Florida after a traffic stop. She showed his birth certificate in court. He’s still in jail waiting for ICE officials to pick him up.

STORY: floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/17/u...

🚨A U.S. born citizen was arrested in Florida for entering the state as an “unauthorized alien.” His mother and a community advocate showed his birth certificate during a hearing in Leon County. The judge said she had no authority to release him.

The Florida Legislature is advancing a bill requiring agency heads to live in Tallahassee. DeSantis said today lawmakers pulled the proposal "out of their rear ends." floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/15/d...

SCOOP: The head of Florida’s emergency agency sent a memo last week ordering local officials to gather personal data about immigrants they suspected of living in the country without authorization, even those who aren’t arrested. The move went too far for sheriffs. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/11/e...

ICYMI yesterday: Fetuses could have the same legal protections as children under a bill the Republican-led Florida House passed. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/09/f...

FAU's police department is seeking immigration enforcement authority from ICE to question and detain people. The university’s new president was an executive for the GEO Group, a for-profit prison company that runs ICE detention centers. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/02/f...

An FDA worker confirms what I've seen out there. CDC's entire FOIA office is gone. The FDA's communications and web office were cut. "The FDA as we know it is gone."

NEW: The executive director of the new State Board of Immigration Enforcement is pushing for the Florida Division of Emergency Management to house and transport immigrants awaiting deportation. floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/31/s...

ICYMI from me this morning: Florida teens are contracting STIs at rates higher than in the past decade, and a bill advancing in the Republican-controlled Legislature would require them to tell their parents to secure treatment. floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/26/a...

My latest: A bill advancing in the Florida Senate would make it harder for children without legal status who are fleeing abuse in their home countries to become permanent residents. floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/14/m...

Important update to this story: Pinellas County Schools are backing off from an agreement with ICE to deputize school police for immigration enforcement efforts. The school chief of police signed it without the knowledge of the school board or superintendent. floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/06/p...