TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - More than 100 people were detained Thursday morning following an immigration raid at a construction site in Tallahassee, according to the Homeland Security Investigations Tampa (HSI Tampa).

Some of those detainees were from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Nicaragua and Honduras, “to name a few,” HSI Tampa wrote in a statement to X, formerly known as Twitter, just after 4:15 p.m. Thursday.

HSI Tampa went on to say in its social media post that some of the detainees were previously deported and some held criminal backgrounds.

A WCTV crew on the scene Thursday morning saw more than 50 Florida Highway Patrol troopers assisting with the apparent immigration raid at the large construction site, the Perla, a new student housing development.

People were also seen being lined up and cuffed or zip-tied in the area of Gaines Street near Lake Bradford Road in College Town.

The Leon County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that multiple people detained at the Gaines Street construction site are facing pending criminal charges and they are being brought to the jail, booked in and placed on an ICE hold.

LCSO Spokesperson Shonda Knight said it’s not clear yet how many people will be held at the Leon County Detention Center or what types of charges they’re facing.

The Homeland Security Investigations confirmed to WCTV in a statement Thursday morning that HSI served multiple search warrants in the Tallahassee region:

“U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation served multiple search warrants as part of an ongoing investigation in the Tallahassee region. There is no additional information available at this time.”

A WCTV crew on scene said investigators were speaking with every construction worker to confirm who’s a legal citizen and who’s not.

Authorities on the scene told WCTV that federal investigators are leading this effort.

A large bus also arrived at the scene, according to our crew. An HSI spokesman would not comment on how many people boarded those buses or where they were headed at that time.

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A few witnesses were present during the raid.

Amanda Parrish is the wife of a construction worker, who she said was working at the site at the time of the raid. Her husband was taken into custody following the raid, according to her.

She said that by the time she arrived, the immigration raid was actively taking place and authorities were present with their guns drawn, telling the workers to “come down and nobody will get hurt.”

She said that the authorities told the workers they only wanted to take fingerprints and verify the workers’ legal status. Parrish said most of the workers, though, were placed inside a bus.

“They’re asking for citizenship and they’re running fingerprints to see if they are wanted by immigration and I have only seen a few people walk away from that table and most of them have been put into the bus behind me.”

Parrish said she was very worried that what her husband had was not going to be helpful, as they are waiting on his full citizenship paperwork, saying its “been a while and a lot of things are being cancelled out.”

“We have five children at home and two of them are autistic and they love their daddy and this is going to be very heartbreaking. Get the criminals. Get the murderers and the rapists, OK. But these men out here working, leave them alone. They are not hurting nothing. We do have five kids at home that are waiting for me to come home with dad.”

Larisa Cladakis, who works next door to the construction site, said she also witnessed HSI agents arrive at the scene Thursday morning and tie workers’ wrists with zip ties.

“They set up these tables pretty quickly like they have some organization, I don’t know. There’s some people here and you hear them saying Te Amo, which means I love you. And then the person with their wrist zip tied is like blowing them a kiss.”

Cladakis said that as a Mexican descendant, she can empathize.

“I can only imagine if that was like my dad, or my brother or my friend or boyfriend.”

The raid came as a shock in the early morning hours of the capital city. It follows numerous other immigration arrests in and around Tallahassee, as part of the Florida Highway Patrol’s agreement with ICE.

When contacted, leadership at the construction company also seemed surprised that authorities had descended on their sites.

A PR firm representing Hedrick Brothers Construction, the company in charge of the construction site, wrote in a statement to WCTV that they are aware authorities “have taken control of the site.”

Hedrick Brothers Construction fully complies with all regulatory standards, including all E-Verify employment verification requirements. Furthermore, we require all independent subcontractors to follow the same legal standards, as outlined in our contractual agreements with their companies.

We have been made aware that the authorities have taken control of the site. Hedrick Brothers Construction will fully cooperate with all elements of the investigation.

This story will be updated as we learn more.

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