Orange County commissioners approved an agreement Tuesday to federalize county jail officers to hold and transfer inmates who are accused of violating immigration law.
The 5-2 vote came after commissioners debated for more than two hours over complying with the ratification agreement.
Under the agreement, 17 county jail staff will be trained by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to serve as warrant service officers to detain and turn over inmates who ICE accuses of being in the country illegally, according to Orange County Corrections Chief Louis A. Quiñones.
While county jail officers have always cooperated with federal authorities, what is new about this agreement is the state’s new penalty for non-cooperation. Under pressure from the state, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings already signed the agreement Feb. 19, but the commission had until April 1 to ratify it or face penalties from the state for non-compliance, Demings said.
Last month, the Republican-led state Legislature passed a sweeping immigration law that forces local governments to enter into cooperation agreements with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, called 287g agreements. Under the law, “Any executive or administrative state, county, or municipal officer who violates his or her duties under this chapter may be subject to action by the Governor, including potential suspension from office.’’ Demings also said the county faced losing state or federal funding if it did not comply with the agreement.
“We take care of the people in this county with our general fund dollars,’’ Demings said. “With sometimes federal dollars. Sometimes state dollars. The potential loss or suspension of receiving those funds could have greater, catastrophic impacts on our community … As the CEO for Orange County, I can’t allow that to happen.’’
Because Orange was the last of Florida’s 67 counties to ratify the agreement, Demings said he feared the state would make an example of the county and punish it for non-compliance.
But the two commissioners who voted against ratification – District 1’s Nicole Wilson and District 5’ Kelly Semrad – pushed back, saying the state was trying to intimidate duly elected county leaders.
“Being coerced is not the same as an agreement,’’ said Wilson, an attorney.
She raised concerns that the county would be participating in the denial of civil rights for inmates in the county jail who could be accused by ICE agents of violating immigration law and whisked away without due process.
In addition to civil rights concerns, Semrad argued the agreement was a bad deal for Orange County taxpayers. Quiñones told commissioners it costs $145 a day to house an inmate at the county jail and that ICE reimburses the county $88 of that amount for inmates being held for removal for violating immigration law. He said the county can apply to the state for reimbursement to make up the $57 difference. But Semrad said county taxpayers would be on the hook to pay for the thousands of potential new inmates who could flood the county jail.
“Just with the overall attitude, I’m not going to be scared into a vote,’’ Semrad said. “I’d rather vote doing the right thing than vote complicit with something like this.’’
Quiñones said that so far this year, 626 inmates had been booked into the Orange County Jail with ICE detainers. But that number could go up sharply very soon. Demings said the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has informed him that ICE has identified 10,000 people in Orange County it wants to detain and remove for immigration law violations, and that figure could double to 20,000 in two weeks.
In the end, Demings was joined by commissioners Christine Moore, Mayra Uribe, Maribel Gomez Cordero and Michael Scott in voting yes to ratify the agreement, while Semrad and Wilson voted no.
Before the vote, the commission agreed to return April 22 to discuss a resolution that would provide jail staff more guidance and recommendations for how the agreement is carried out.
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