MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade County commissioners are set to vote on partnering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
The proposal, according to commissioners, serves as a codification of the current operating agreement between the county and ICE, allowing the agency to have control over public records relating to inmates who are awaiting handovers to federal authorities while held in county jails.
Under the proposal, inmates otherwise eligible for release with a detainer would be held for longer. It costs hundreds of dollars a day to hold an inmate. The agreement states that Miami-Dade officials can be reimbursed $50 for each inmate held on a detainer.
Commissioner Rob Gonzalez, who sponsored the bill, said in a tweet, “Miami-Dade is not and will not be a sanctuary county. I’m backing an item to formally approve our ICE agreement, already signed by the mayor in March, as required by state law. We’ve honored detainers since 2019. This just ensures we get reimbursed. Common sense over politics.”
In recent months, cities such as Doral and Coral Gables have partnered with ICE to crack down on illegal immigration. The agreements allow officials to carry out certain immigration enforcement tasks under the 287(g) program, which allows state and local agencies to act as immigration enforcement officials.
Opponents of the agreement state that it contains troubling restrictions on which inmate records and data the county will treat as public information. They also say it can potentially allow the government to block the release of public records about the people detained, effectively “disappearing” them from the system.
Protestors are set to speak out against the agreement, citing similar language used in other Florida jail systems resulting in the removal of inmates’ names from local search portals. They say it is just another way for the federal government to overreach and encroach on the authority of local government.
“City police should have no role in civil immigration enforcement. It breaks the trust between our residents, it diverts our resources and our taxpayer dollars, and it harms our neighbors, our friends, and our community,” said Community Justice Project member Alana Greer.
The Levine-Cava administration said in response that the concern is unfounded and that county inmates will always be able to be searched by the public in the jail’s portal.
The mayor was initially set to be joined by county commissioners in a hearing regarding the legislation starting at around 9:00 a.m., Monday. The meeting has since been rescheduled to June 26.
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