Just as Miami Springs Police Chief, Matthew Castillo, was making it official that he was taking on the new role as the Chief of Police for the City of Doral, a Miami Herald article dropped last week regarding the “high number” of immigration arrests by the City of Miami Springs.
According to the article, the “high number” of arrests by the Miami Springs Police Department was just 16 immigration arrests between August and May. That’s less than 2 immigration arrests per month in this short 10 month window that was randomly selected.
I don’t know if the article was attempting to paint the Miami Springs Police Department as an ICE squad doing nothing but looking for illegal immigrants every day. Gimme a break.
The article mentions, Miami Springs is a small town with just 13,000 residents. (Let’s pause there for an accuracy check. Miami Springs has closer to 14,000 residents.) But the article failed to mention the maximum number of people who can populate Miami Springs at any given time considering the hundreds of hotel rooms and dozens of Air BNBs within Miami Springs city limits.
And doesn’t Miami Springs have a higher than average ratio of transient or temporary accommodations to permanent residential accommodations?
Funny, the article fails to call out the high number of tourists and transients that stay along NW 36th Street.
The article further fails to call out the success the Miami Springs Police Department had in 2025. As we reported last week, in 2025 the Miami Springs Police Department doubled their arrests and doubled their citations. As a result, it led to a 17% reduction in call volume and a 40% reduction in property crime.
Wow. That’s the kind of police results every community should be aspiring for. No wonder Doral poached our top cop.
Add to that a supportive Mayor and City Council that has backed our Police Department and its efforts to use technology to help catch offenders.
If Miami Springs has a higher rate of illegal immigration arrests, it’s because of a few key factors:
- High number of transients relative to the population thanks to the high density of hotels adjacent to the busiest airport in the State of Florida, Miami International Airport. Let’s get real for a second. We all know we have problem areas on NW 36th Street.
- Damn good police work that increased traffic stops and citations and as a byproduct, netted more arrests overall, and just so happens to include more illegal immigration arrests.
Wait. Let’s look at some of these arrests.
Oh, here was a man charged with Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a Child. Yup. There was an immigration hold on this man. Immigration wasn’t why he was arrested. He was arrested for Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a child. But he couldn’t bail out because there was an immigration hold.
62 Year Old Charged with Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a Child
Remember the man who was pulled out from under the bridge. He was charged with:
- Battery on Police Officer / Firefighter
- Resisting an officer with violence to his person
- Disorderly conduct / Breach of the peace
Oh yeah. He also had an immigration hold.
Wait. Here’s another one of “high number” of illegal immigration arrests. This man was arrested on Curtiss Parkway after an alleged armed car theft and stalking. He had an immigration hold.
Man Arrested on Curtiss Parkway after Alleged Armed Car Theft and Stalking
And just to drive the point further, here’s a man arrested for Leaving the Scene of a a Miami Springs crash with bodily injury. Yeah, he also had an immigration hold.
Man Arrested for Leaving Scene of Miami Springs Crash with Bodily Injury
Bottom line, we are blessed to have a department working hard to keep our community safe. And our department is delivering results. A 40% reduction in property crime? Shoot! The question isn’t why does Miami Springs have so many illegal immigration arrests. The question is, why aren’t other cities as good at reducing crime as Miami Springs?
To the men and women working for the Miami Springs Police Department, keep up the great work. Thank you and God bless you guys!
Stay safe.
