MIAMI (WSVN) - A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to withhold funding from sanctuary cities, and local residents are voicing their opinions.
“It’s a temporary restraining order, which means it can be and probably will be appealed to the higher court of appeals, ” said University of Miami Immigration and Citizenship professor David Abraham. “On the other hand, the Trump administration has so alienated the federal judiciary that we will probably see a slow rewrite of this proposal.”
The sanctuary city issue has been highly controversial in Miami-Dade County.
In January, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez took heat from protesters after he decided to comply with customs and immigrations officials, citing fears of losing federal funding.
During a heated meeting in February, the county commissioners voted 9-3 in favor of Gimenez’s decision.
Gimenez later said he will hold undocumented prisoners wanted by immigration officials for up to 48 hours beyond their release date.
“That’s complying with the law and that’s what we’re gonna keep on doing,” Gimenez said.
“I think that he should reconsider what he’s saying, ” said Julio Calderon of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “We’re telling him, ‘We told you he has no legal ground to take funding away,’ and we were proven right. And people are afraid and this is a real issue for our communities.”
Even though the mayor has said the county will continue to comply with the inmate hold request, he said police officers in the county will never be used to enforce immigration law.
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