Construction on the new Palatka Primary School came to a standstill for hours Thursday after federal immigration agents descended on the job site, apprehending more than 10 people and prompting a modified lockdown at nearby Palatka Intermediate School. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office confirmed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation unfolded at the former Kelley Smith Elementary School site on Kelly Smith Road, where crews have been building the new Palatka Primary School.
Sheriff's Office Confirms Federal Involvement
The sheriff's office updated a Facebook post at 3:30 p.m. Thursday to confirm that an ICE operation, not a local investigation, was behind the heavy law enforcement presence that had unsettled the area for hours, according to the Palatka Daily News. A local official told the paper that more than 10 people were apprehended during the operation on the morning of Nov. 5, while a Facebook video reviewed by the outlet showed law enforcement leading at least 13 handcuffed people away from the site. News4JAX reported that law enforcement officers detained multiple workers at the future school site, and that the sheriff's office described its own role as supporting another agency rather than leading the investigation.
The day's events started earlier than the construction-site activity. At 7:47 a.m., the sheriff's office posted on Facebook about a heavy law enforcement presence stemming from a traffic stop on State Road 19 roughly 17 minutes earlier. Deputies said several people ran from officers and fled into a nearby wooded area during that stop. News4JAX reported that multiple workers were detained at the construction site.
Nearby School Placed on Modified Lockdown
The proximity of the construction site to Palatka Intermediate School led officials to place that school on a modified lockdown for several hours as a precaution. The sheriff's office cited both the nearby school and the possibility that one individual involved may have been armed as reasons for the lockdown, per the Palatka Daily News. Putnam County Superintendent Rick Surrency said construction at the school site was halted for three to four hours as the operation played out.
Multiple people fled the construction site during the operation, and deputies from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, along with the Palatka Police Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, responded to a mutual aid request to help locate those who ran. The sheriff's office said the law enforcement presence near the area, including around Round Lake Park and Silver Lake, had been lifted by Thursday afternoon.
Construction Company Cooperated, District Says
Surrency said Ajax Construction, the company overseeing the Palatka Primary School project, cooperated with officers throughout the operation and kept the school district informed about what was happening in real time, the superintendent told News4JAX. As of Friday afternoon, Ajax Construction had not responded to News4JAX's request for comment on the incident. A nearby resident shared video showing officers, some wearing masks, taking multiple workers into custody, and told the station he regularly speaks with the workers at the site and brings them water. Other area residents, speaking off camera, said they wondered whether the operation involved federal immigration enforcement before the sheriff's office confirmed it that afternoon.
The Department of Homeland Security had not confirmed as of Thursday evening whether ICE agents were present or participated in the operation, according to News4JAX. The Department of Justice has discretion over releasing any additional information about the operation, leaving several basic questions, including how many people were ultimately detained and what happens to them next, unanswered for now.
Part of a Broader Pattern on Florida Jobsites
This is not the first time immigration enforcement has touched a Putnam County construction project. Surrency told the Palatka Daily News that immigration agents conducted a raid at a South Putnam construction site the previous year. Florida has also seen larger-scale operations: ICE has said it arrested more than 100 workers during a jobsite raid at a student housing development near Florida State University in May 2025, a multiagency effort reported by Construction Dive. That trade publication reported that some Florida jobsites paused or shut down work entirely for the day in the aftermath.
Industry experts told Construction Dive that a rise in immigration raids could bring severe disruptions to job-site schedules and worsen an already stark labor shortage in construction. George Carrillo of the Hispanic Construction Council told the outlet that such raids disrupt projects, create uncertainty for businesses and foster fear among workers. A separate case in Alabama, where construction worker Leonardo Garcia Venegas brought a class action over alleged warrantless raids at private job sites in 2025, has drawn scrutiny from a federal judge, according to al.com.
Thursday's lockdown was not the first time a Palatka school has been affected by nearby law enforcement activity unrelated to the campus itself. James A. Long Elementary School in Palatka was previously placed on a modified lockdown because of law enforcement activity nearby that police later said was tied to a drug-house bust, according to First Coast News. For now, construction on the new Palatka Primary School has resumed, but residents and school officials alike are left waiting for federal agencies to say more about what happened on Kelly Smith Road.
