A dozen people were detained in immigration raids in the Big Bend Monday

The state of Florida says it has detained a dozen people in the Big Bend who may be in the country illegally. Initial reports of potential arrests in the area started circling Monday afternoon on social media.

A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles confirmed that it, and the Department of Homeland Security, detained 12 people. Facebook posts Monday from users said they were either told about or spotted agents carrying out detentions at places around the city and nearby counties. It comes as the legislature is weighing a bill to give local law enforcement more authority to enforce federal immigration laws and place immigration enforcement under the purview of the Florida Department of Agriculture.

The head of the state DHSMV is Dave Kerner, who recently backed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push for a legislative special session on immigration.

"We are ready and willing to follow the governor's lead and work with federal partners to execute the Trump illegal immigration mandate!" The agency said in a post on X.

The Leon County Sheriff’s Office says it was not informed about the detentions.

While Florida lawmakers are currently in a special session on immigration, they are not taking up the immigration proposals DeSantis initially called for. Instead, legislative leaders have unveiled their own immigration proposal while simultaneously criticizing DeSantis for what the state House and Senate leaders have called "overreach."

In a secondary post to X, the FLHSMV, an agency under the governor, wrote, "FHP is already operating under the governor's leadership to work with federal partners and enforce immigration law in Florida. The new bill proposed by the legislature would undercut our ability to deliver on this mission and remove critical authority and resources from our purview."