Florida pushes local police departments to assist federal government in immigration enforcement
Florida's local law enforcement agencies have been required by state law to assist the federal government in immigration enforcement for over a year.
But some agencies, including some of the largest sheriffs and police departments in the state, still aren't participating.
At a State Immigration Enforcement Council meeting on Tuesday, Florida's top cops said some are barely cooperating or not engaging at all in President Donald Trump's agenda, a priority supported and pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Out of 394 law enforcement agencies in the state, 272 have active 287(g) taskforce officer agreements, according to data provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Of the 272, 163 agencies are considered "active operational," which means they have made one or more 287(g) arrests. The remaining 109 agencies have not yet made an arrest, according to the FDLE data.
The council will send letters to law enforcement agencies urging them to comply with state law, assist the federal government in illegal immigration enforcement and report monthly data to FDLE.
"I want to encourage them. I don't want to see them publicly embarrassed for not complying with the law," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, the council chair.
Council members have given agencies time to earn accreditation, begin arrests and learn how to enter data into Florida's Suspected Unauthorized Alien Encounters Dashboard.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, a member of the council, said he was "very sympathetic a while back to everybody getting up to speed and getting their sea legs under them."
But that time is over.
"Follow the law, do what you're supposed to do," Gualtieri said. "There's no glitches, either you're doing it or not."
Judd said all local law enforcement should begin checking immigration status as part of their "daily routine."
"We're not suggesting that people gather up at Home Depots or Lowes and target people. We're not suggesting they go into agriculture fields or work sites," Judd said.
State law requires all county sheriff's departments to enter 287(g) agreements, but according to FDLE, some counties are doing the bare minimum.
Broward County, for example, has an "active operational" agreement. But out of 1,745 deputies, only two are designated immigration officers, and the agency has not participated in monthly reporting, according to FDLE.
Police departments are not required to enter into 287(g) agreements; however, Florida law says they "shall use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law."
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department, an agency with 543 officers, currently does not have a 287(g) agreement with ICE.
And of the 9,026 designated immigration officers in the state, only 17% are police officers.
Anthony Coker, director of the State Immigration Enforcement Council, said grants for immigration enforcement will not be given to law enforcement agencies that do not enter into 287(g) agreements or do not report data currently to the state.
The State Board of Immigration Enforcement has approved approximately $148 million in funds to local law enforcement to assist with federal immigration enforcement.
About $13.6 million of that has already been disbursed to 34 agencies, according to Transparency Florida, a state website that tracks government spending.