Despite hundreds of residents packing Miami City Hall this past June, and dozens testifying in opposition to an agreement deputizing police officers with immigration enforcement powers, commissioners there decided to move forward in signing a 287g agreement that will in fact, turn their police force into a cooperating arm of the immigration crackdown we are seeing not just in our state but across the country.
The same is happening in municipalities across the state, for example, in Key West and Fort Myers, which, after signing a 287g agreement, attempted to backtrack but were bullied into submission by Florida’s unelected Attorney General James Uthmeier, who threatened local officials there with removal from office if they did so. The overzealous cooperation is not limited to just cities, either, as even universities all over Florida are signing on to these police-ICE collaboration agreements by deputizing their campus police departments to conduct immigration enforcement, and so far, we are the only state in the nation to see colleges take this extreme step.
Thomas Kennedy is a writer, advocate and elected Democratic National Committee member living in Miami.
A so-called sanctuary ban enacted in Florida through Senate Bill 1808 a few years ago relates to 287g agreements, as required by statute 908.11, which details a mandate for counties that operate a county-level detention facility to sign on. That means city commissioners, public university presidents, and any other entity that doesn’t operate a county-level detention facility have the power to reject 287g contracts, even outside of a police chief’s decision. In cities like Tallahassee and Coral Gables, the city attorney and police chief, respectively, acknowledged that there was no legal requirement for their jurisdictions to sign a 287(g) contract. Of course, they need the political will to do it, but they have the legal cover if they want to have that fight.
You don’t have to take my word for it. You don’t even need to take the word of the Tallahassee city attorney and Coral Gables police chief, either. You can actually take the word of attorneys representing the state of Florida in this matter, who recently admitted in court that municipalities are not required by law to enter into these 287g agreements, saying that they did not believe South Miami was violating the relevant immigration Florida statute and that they, “do not believe that every municipality must enter into a 287g agreement.”
Other elected officials have misled their constituents when signing on to these 287g contracts, like the city of Doral officials, who claim that they were forced by the state to do so. As established, that’s just simply not true, despite Gov. Ron DeSantis and Uthmeier threatening local elected officials across the state with removal from office if they do not comply and want to be burdened with their extrajudicial immigration enforcement whims and threats.
These 287g agreements are bad for all residents, not just undocumented immigrants, as they will now be exposed to higher risks of racial profiling and government intrusion. The original 287g task force model was discontinued in 2012 because of so many racial profiling-related lawsuits. It’s bad for police officers, who will now be burdened with further training and responsibilities outside of their day-to-day policing responsibilities. It’s bad for public safety, as people will be afraid to report crimes if they think police will only show up to ask for their immigration status and possibly detain them. It’s bad for the city, which will now be foisted on an expensive bureaucratic and administrative mess to deal with.
Local elected officials across Florida should take note of South Miami’s efforts to preserve local control against intrusions by an overreaching state government, along with acting in line with their fiduciary duty to protect their city against an inadequately funded mandate that exposes them to legal liability. Let’s not forget that the Florida Highway Patrol, recently deputized to conduct immigration enforcement, arrested a U.S. citizen earlier this year and held him in lockup under an ICE detainer, eventually being forced to release him after realizing their mistake. We need more local governments to show some political will and courage when defending their jurisdictional authority, the financial well-being of their cities, our public safety, and most importantly, our civil rights.
Thomas Kennedy has worked with organizations such as the Florida Immigrant Coalition and the Immigration Hub, as well as in the Florida Legislature.
