Lee County leads Florida with 114 ICE encounters this week as arrests pile up across Gulf Coast

Lee County has reported 114 ICE encounters this week, the highest in Florida, according to the State Board of Immigration's website, with 39 arrests made on federal, state, and local charges. Immigration attorney Indera DeMine said, "People are being detained in mass numbers here in Southwest Florida." Out of the 114 encounters in Lee County, 28 arrests were made on federal charges, while 11 were made on state and local charges. Homeland Security provided arrest photos of six men taken into custody, including Alexei Marti-Martinez, who was convicted of grand theft. ICE filed a detainer against him in April 2025 and recently arrested him. Carlos Cortez-Aquino, who pleaded guilty in 2020 to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and served a year in jail, was also arrested by ICE six years after his release. Antonio Cordova-Sajic, arrested in 2020 for lewd and lascivious conduct and later violating probation in 2022, was taken into custody four years after his initial arrest. "All of these cases that were administratively closed five, six, ten years ago, people are getting picked up. So no, they haven't committed a new crime," DeMine said. DeMine explained that previous administrations did not prioritize these cases, but the second Trump administration has changed that policy. "I believe what we're seeing is these ICE officers have quotas they have to meet," DeMine said. In a statement, ICE said, "Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. DHS does not discuss ongoing or future operations." ICE arrests in Lee County are expected to continue through Friday. DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.