FLORIDA – Deportation orders tied to immigration court cases in Florida rose sharply in June, with judges issuing 5,415 removal orders — an 18% increase from March, according to a report released Tuesday from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
TRAC, a Syracuse University nonprofit that tracks federal immigration data, said removal orders nationwide climbed to 78,882 in June as immigration court case closures hit a record 100,773. Removal orders made up about 78% of all case closures that month, the report said.
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The Florida surge was part of wider shifts across the country: TRAC found steep increases in some jurisdictions, including Illinois and Texas, while others such as California and Arizona showed declines. The data showed many people ordered removed were not present for their hearings; more than two‑thirds of those in closed cases were absent when judges issued removal orders.
At the end of June, the immigration court backlog stood at roughly 3.2 million cases, TRAC said, and only about 21.5% of people had attorneys when a removal order was issued. The group also noted that the share of closed cases resulting in relief has remained very small.
The June surge coincided with renewed attention to a controversial Florida facility nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The makeshift detention center, built on a remote airstrip in the Everglades, drew criticism from immigrant advocates and rights groups over conditions and oversight. Amnesty International issued a report saying detainees faced unsanitary conditions, limited access to medical care and restricted contact with counsel, and described the site as operating outside standard federal oversight.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the facility’s closure June 25, saying the site was built as a temporary measure and that detainees were moved to other facilities as hurricane season approached. Advocates have said the transfers left families and attorneys struggling to locate clients for days.
The developments in Florida reflect tensions over how state and federal authorities handle surges in immigration cases, with civil‑rights groups urging expanded legal representation and oversight and officials saying stricter enforcement is needed to manage flows.
TRAC’s report, published July 21, draws on immigration court records and other federal data to track outcomes and trends in removals and case closures.