JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Families who say they have to wait days to find and contact loved ones held at new Florida immigration facilities are hoping a new bill under consideration in this year’s legislative session will help solve some of those issues.
Families of detainees in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can track their location online, but for those housed at “Deportation Depot” or “Alligator Alcatraz,” it may take longer to appear in the system.
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ICE has an “Online Detainee Locator System” that helps locate detainees who are in its custody or who have been in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s custody for more than 48 hours. However, state-run immigration detention facilities, such as “Deportation Depot” in Baker County and “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades, may take up to three days — and sometimes even longer — to appear in the online portal.
Vilerka Bilbao, founder of Bilbao Law in Jacksonville, said the longer wait to track detainees can create several issues not only for families, but also for employers and attorneys.
“To start their legal process, to request bond, to find out where they are, to maybe take the necessary medication that they need, or maybe to go and figure out where the person was arrested and pick up their vehicle, which might be on the side of the road,” Bilbao told News4JAX.
Senate Bill 708, introduced by State Sen. Lori Berman (D-Boynton Beach), would require the State Board of Immigration Enforcement to create and manage the “State Immigration Enforcement Action Database.” This database would be a publicly available website that would include immigration enforcement actions and important information to help track detainees better, including:
- The name and birthdate of the person
- The date of arrest or detention, or the date when the agency or entity first took custody of the person
- The location of the arrest or detention
- If the person is still in state custody, where the person is housed
- If the person is no longer in state custody, when the person was released or transferred to another jurisdiction
If passed, this new bill would require the State Board of Immigration Enforcement to update the information about a detainee within 48 hours of the immigration-related action.
Bilbao said this bill is about “basic accountability and transparency,” and added that it would benefit all of the parties involved, including state agencies. However, she said it would especially help families who sometimes spend days without knowing where their loved one is.
“It’s fairly common that a family contacts us. They tell us maybe which county or which city the person was arrested at, and then you call the county jail. They’re not there. Maybe they didn’t actually get fully processed in that county jail,” Bilbao said.
In September 2025, News4JAX interviewed a Cuban-American woman who was trying to figure out the exact location of her husband, who was initially taken into ICE custody in Broward County. However, she later learned that he had been transferred to another facility.
When News4JAX searched for her husband’s location on the ICE online locator, it said to “call the Department of Corrections” for more information.
“No email, no address, no phone number where you can call or anything,” the wife told News4JAX.
She said her lawyer eventually received an email that he was in Baker County. However, since there are now two ICE facilities in this county, it took longer to figure out exactly where her husband was being housed.
“If they deport him, I’m not going to know where or what’s going on because the system is not working,” the woman said back in September.
Bilbao said it is because of cases like this that this bill could be a game-changer.
“The state has chosen to play an expanded role in immigration detention. And so with that choice comes the responsibility to maintain clear records. And one database across the state of Florida actually facilitates, and it doesn’t hinder detention efforts,” Bilbao said.
If passed, SB 708 would go into effect on July 1.
Other immigration-related bills
SB 86 - HB 1247 | Commercial Motor Vehicles Operated by Unauthorized Aliens
One of the bills that has been successfully advancing through the Legislature is Senate Bill 86, which explicitly states Florida’s policy regarding the operation of commercial vehicles by undocumented immigrants.
This bill, in part, creates a process requiring certain law enforcement officers to take into custody an unauthorized driver operating a commercial motor vehicle and to facilitate transfer to federal immigration authorities. It also requires the commercial motor vehicle to be impounded and/or removed under specified circumstances and imposes a $50,000 civil penalty on companies tied to the unauthorized driver operating the commercial vehicle.
SB 316 - HB 419 | Law Enforcement and Immigration Officer Identifying Information and Face Coverings (VISIBLE Act)
In November 2025, State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) and Representative Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville) filed what they called “The VISIBLE Act,” a legislation that would require law enforcement and immigration officers to display visible identification and prohibit the use of face coverings during public enforcement actions.
“Safer communities are stronger communities. Allowing law enforcement and immigration officers to mask their identities erases transparency, exacerbates already difficult and dangerous situations, and does nothing to keep our communities safe,” Nixon said. “I’m fighting for transparency and accountability with our law enforcement by ensuring proper identification of our officers. This common-sense measure protects officers doing their jobs and ensures that the general public is not tricked by bad actors wishing to inflict harm on people by abusing the systems meant to keep us all safe.”
Moreover, the lawmakers said this legislation aims to “reduce tension with law enforcement in Florida communities by removing masks used to shield law enforcement and immigration officers from identification and accountability.”
If passed, the VISIBLE Act would take effect on July 1.
SB 328 - HB 315 | Immigration, Law Enforcement, and State-issued Identification (Prosperity Act)
This bill, titled the “Florida Economic Prosperity and Immigration Act,” combines immigration policy, driver license/ID rules, employment verification, anti-discrimination changes, limits on certain immigration enforcement activity, and the VISIBLE Act provisions on officer identification and face coverings.
SB 1316 - HB 485 | Injunctions for Protection Against Domestic Violence Based on Marriage Fraud
This bill, also known as “Shawnya’s Law,” expands Florida’s domestic violence injunction law to cover marriage fraud and adds a process to notify the state’s immigration enforcement board in certain cases.
In other words, if someone claims their spouse/partner tricked them into a marriage mainly to get immigration or other marriage-based benefits—and then used manipulation, coercion, or caused emotional/financial harm—that conduct could qualify under Florida’s domestic violence injunction law.
If passed, this law would take effect on July 1.