Attorney General James Uthmeier is threatening three Fort Myers city council members with removal from office after they refused Monday to deputize police officers to participate in immigration enforcement.
Uthmeier, who became the attorney general a month ago, warned the council that Gov. Ron DeSantis could remove them from office if they didn’t allow the city police to question people about their immigration status and detain those subject to deportation.
After hours of public testimony and debate, the city council of the Southwest Florida city voted a 3-3 deadlock Monday, stopping city police from entering into an agreement with the federal government to cooperate in immigration enforcement efforts.
Over the past month, all 67 Florida sheriffs and at least 40 municipalities have entered into the 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, far exceeding the number of agreements from any other state.
“Failure to correct the Council’s actions will result in the enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including but not limited to being held in contempt, declaratory or injunctive relief, and removal from office by the Governor,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter he sent to the council Tuesday.
Recent state laws require local entities to participate in immigration enforcement, DeSantis wrote in a post on X Tuesday, after Uthmeier posted on the social media platform that his office would investigate the council members’ actions.
“The 287(g) program trains local law enforcement to aid ICE,” DeSantis wrote. “Florida will ensure its laws are followed, and when it comes to immigration — the days of inaction are over. Govern yourselves accordingly.”
DeSantis last month signed two laws aimed at helping the Trump administration carry out mass deportations.
One of those laws states that local officials must use their “best efforts” to support federal immigration law. Uthmeier could take legal action against local officials who refuse to comply with a request from ICE to hold a person beyond their scheduled release from a local jail so the federal agency can take them into custody.
In the letter, Uthmeier cited the recently signed law, stating that their decision to block the agreement with ICE meant the council members were implicitly implementing sanctuary policy.
The governor has branded such agreements during press conferences as street-level enforcement and the maximum level of cooperation with the federal government on internal immigration enforcement.
“I can’t stand behind this”
A spokesperson for the city council told Florida Phoenix that people interested in the decision should watch the video of the meeting and that Diana Giraldo, one of the three council members who voted against the agreement, wouldn’t take an interview.
“I can’t stand behind this as an immigrant, the only immigrant sitting on this council,” Giraldo said while tearing up during the meeting. “Because although this isn’t about me, particularly, I have been in that position, and I can’t even express how heavy this is my heart and in my mind knowing that the majority of us who come as immigrants, we don’t come here to commit crimes.”
Darla Bonk, another council member who voted against the agreement, wrote in an email to the Phoenix that she wouldn’t comment on the vote but that she had told the attorney general’s office that she was happy to cooperate and answer questions. The other council member in opposition, Terolyn Watson, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Florida Immigrant Coalition spokesperson Thomas Kennedy said that even Democratic cities such as Tallahassee have adopted the agreements out of fear of retribution.
“The reason why this is happening, again outside of counties that operate a jail, is because they’re all scared of the governor and his stretching of his constitutional authority to remove local elected officials, and Uthmeier is trying to lean into that to intimidate these municipalities into compliance,” Kennedy said, referencing DeSantis’ ousting of two Democratic state attorneys.
–Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
