NEAR JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WSVN) — Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez addressed the thorny and divisive issue of immigration during a nationally broadcast forum held near Jacksonville, Tuesday night.
Immigration remains one of the biggest issues around the country and especially in the Sunshine State. During the Fox News event, Gimenez defended his decision to comply with President Donald Trump’s orders.
“People who tell me, ‘Hey, I really like what you did,’ I tell them, ‘I really did a lot less than what you thought I did,'” said Gimenez. “The people who are vocally against it, I say, ‘You know, I did a lot less than what you thought I did.'”
Gimenez has ordered the Department of Corrections to honor all requests made by immigration authorities to hold suspects in the Miami-Dade County Jail.
When asked about where he stands regarding Trump’s policies, Gimenez told 7News, “I’m not aligned with all the policies. I did one very minor thing in order to get us off a sanctuary city list.”
Some of the the issues discussed at the town hall included the contentious matter of sanctuary cities and Trump’s controversial travel ban for seven majority-Muslim countries in the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya.
Trump senior advisor Stephen Miller defended the ban. “We’ve had dozens and dozens of terrorism cases from these seven countries. Case after case after case,” he said.
Stephen Miller on @POTUS immigration order: “Nothing was wrong with the first executive order…There was a flawed judicial ruling." pic.twitter.com/uNmioetzjs
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 22, 2017
The discussion eventually veered toward the proposed wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
One immigrant from Germany said she is horrified by the prospect of such a wall. “I grew up with the wall. I know what the wall does to families,” she said. “I witnessed people getting shot crossing over the wall.”
Gimenez said he supports comprehensive immigration reform but is sensitive that Miami-Dade is a county of immigrants and refugees. “The majority of the immigrants in our country are basically good, hardworking people that never have any kind of interaction with police departments or law enforcement,” he said.
The mayor told 7News he hasn’t spoken to Trump since Fidel Castro died in November. He also said he wishes he was given more time than just a few minutes in the town hall to explain why he decided to make the immigration changes involving the jail.
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