Although he later claimed to have done so under duress and protest, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings signed an updated agreement with U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) on Friday.
It happened a few days after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatened to remove the mayor and all six county commissioners from office if they didn’t comply.
Yes, we had no choice but to sign the awful document. At a press conference in Orlando in the late afternoon, Demings stated, “We were put in a tough spot.” I cannot allow myself and the rest of the county commissioners to be removed from office.
In order to allow county jail officials to transport immigration detainees to ICE facilities, Demings signed an addendum to the 287(g) Warrant Service Officer (WSO) Memorandum of Agreement. However, he stated that he still needs to evaluate whether his corrections department staff is prepared to do so while maintaining everyone’s safety at the county jail. According to him, the Orange County correctional department currently has 212 open positions, representing a 24% vacancy rate.
Governor Ron DeSantis said earlier Friday in Orlando that local governments might seek for state subsidies to cover the expense of holding and transporting detainees. We agreed the parameters for the money to be distributed, and I believe that the custody transit is something that would be appropriate to accomplish,” he said.
“By forbidding your corrections officers from transporting arrested aliens to ICE-approved detention facilities, you squarely prevent your corrections officers from cooperating with ICE and participating in federal immigration operations,” Uthmeier wrote in a letter posted on X earlier this week (which Demings stated his office had just received on Friday).
He added that DeSantis would be removed from office if he didn’t back down.
Earlier this week, Demings, the former Orlando police chief who has been in charge of Orange County since 2018, declared that he would not permit Uthmeier to intimidate him or other Orange County officials. However, he stated on Friday that he had no real choice since he might be able to insert his henchmen if he didn’t sign the addition.
According to him, it was imperative that we act immediately to eliminate the chance that Orange County’s elected body would be ousted from office. I hope you get that. It goes without saying that we took a calculated risk. We would inject or place people who had no elected obligation to our county. That would be disastrous for Orange County’s government’s ability to continue. That was definitely not what I wanted to happen.
As previously stated by Uthmeier and DeSantis, other municipal governments in Florida who do not fully comply with ICE would be considered to be using sanctuary policies, which are illegal in the state.
By doing this, they made sure that the local governments in Fort Myers and Key West did, in fact, sign 287(g) agreements with ICE, even though Florida law does not require cities to do so, even though counties must.
When it came to implementing immigration laws in Florida, Demings claimed he couldn’t understand why state representatives needed to be so combative.
“We are not adversaries,” he stated. The state is subdivided into local administrations. That is how our state representatives ought to behave. They ought to keep in mind that we are a part of Florida. Working together, regardless of party affiliation, is how the state of Florida functions best. Partisan politics has nothing to do with what I’m saying now. It is entirely related to our community’s public safety.
The addition still needs to be approved by the Orange County Commission. The members will meet on Tuesday of next week.
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Although he later claimed to have done so under duress and protest, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings signed an updated agreement with U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) on Friday.
It happened a few days after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatened to remove the mayor and all six county commissioners from office if they didn’t comply.
Yes, we had no choice but to sign the awful document. At a press conference in Orlando in the late afternoon, Demings stated, “We were put in a tough spot.” I cannot allow myself and the rest of the county commissioners to be removed from office.
In order to allow county jail officials to transport immigration detainees to ICE facilities, Demings signed an addendum to the 287(g) Warrant Service Officer (WSO) Memorandum of Agreement. However, he stated that he still needs to evaluate whether his corrections department staff is prepared to do so while maintaining everyone’s safety at the county jail. According to him, the Orange County correctional department currently has 212 open positions, representing a 24% vacancy rate.
Governor Ron DeSantis said earlier Friday in Orlando that local governments might seek for state subsidies to cover the expense of holding and transporting detainees. We agreed the parameters for the money to be distributed, and I believe that the custody transit is something that would be appropriate to accomplish,” he said.
“By forbidding your corrections officers from transporting arrested aliens to ICE-approved detention facilities, you squarely prevent your corrections officers from cooperating with ICE and participating in federal immigration operations,” Uthmeier wrote in a letter posted on X earlier this week (which Demings stated his office had just received on Friday).
He added that DeSantis would be removed from office if he didn’t back down.
Earlier this week, Demings, the former Orlando police chief who has been in charge of Orange County since 2018, declared that he would not permit Uthmeier to intimidate him or other Orange County officials. However, he stated on Friday that he had no real choice since he might be able to insert his henchmen if he didn’t sign the addition.
According to him, it was imperative that we act immediately to eliminate the chance that Orange County’s elected body would be ousted from office. I hope you get that. It goes without saying that we took a calculated risk. We would inject or place people who had no elected obligation to our county. That would be disastrous for Orange County’s government’s ability to continue. That was definitely not what I wanted to happen.
As previously stated by Uthmeier and DeSantis, other municipal governments in Florida who do not fully comply with ICE would be considered to be using sanctuary policies, which are illegal in the state.
By doing this, they made sure that the local governments in Fort Myers and Key West did, in fact, sign 287(g) agreements with ICE, even though Florida law does not require cities to do so, even though counties must.
When it came to implementing immigration laws in Florida, Demings claimed he couldn’t understand why state representatives needed to be so combative.
“We are not adversaries,” he stated. The state is subdivided into local administrations. That is how our state representatives ought to behave. They ought to keep in mind that we are a part of Florida. Working together, regardless of party affiliation, is how the state of Florida functions best. Partisan politics has nothing to do with what I’m saying now. It is entirely related to our community’s public safety.
The addition still needs to be approved by the Orange County Commission. The members will meet on Tuesday of next week.
Florida’s Mitch Perry The Phoenix
