Florida Immigration Board Awards Peregrine $16 Million as DeSantis Allies Face Conflict Questions
Updated
Updated · Orlando Sentinel · Jul 5
Florida Immigration Board Awards Peregrine $16 Million as DeSantis Allies Face Conflict Questions
1 articles · Updated · Orlando Sentinel · Jul 5
Summary
$16 million in state immigration-enforcement grants went to more than two dozen Florida agencies to buy Peregrine AI software, extending a single data platform across local police departments.
The push builds on a nonbinding April deal with FDLE and budget language that appears to steer another $6 million toward similar technology, with wording closely matching Peregrine's proposal.
Peregrine's rise in Florida coincided with political ties: its lobbyists are close to Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the company donated $225,000 to a PAC linked to one of them.
Civil-rights advocates and watchdogs say the opaque selection process and broad access to arrest records, body-camera footage and license-plate data risk privacy abuses, while FDLE has not explained whether bidding was competitive.
The grants draw from a $250 million fund created to help agencies meet Florida's new mandate to assist federal immigrant roundups, though some sheriffs say the software will be used for broader policing.