Tallahassee Commissioners voted 3-2 Wednesday against ending the city’s 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The decision comes after a judge threw out a South Miami challenge about whether state law requires cities to enter those agreements.
During Wednesday’s commission meeting, Mayor John Dailey, and Commissioners Dianne Williams-Cox and Curtis Richardson, voted against a move to rescind Tallahassee’s agreement with ICE. Commissioner Jack Porter spoke strongly against that decision.
“I love Tallahassee, but I'm truly ashamed of our city right now and our complicity in our president and governor's unconstitutional, immoral and dangerous agendas,” she said.
Governor Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier have warned cities against leaving or not entering agreements to work with federal immigration officers—saying individual commissioners could face suspension.
Most Florida cities have not inked such agreements, and argue they are not required to.
Florida law specifies that sheriff’s offices and jails must enter agreements to work with federal immigration officers. Cities aren’t mentioned, but DeSantis says commissioners could be punished under a different law that bans so-called sanctuary cities.
40 speakers, including resident Juniper Curtis, asked the Tallahassee commissioners to stand up to DeSantis’ threats and fight them in court.
“History will look on as cowards will look on, as failures will look on as the people who stood by, as immigrants were rounded up, as immigrants were attacked,” Curtis said.
Tallahassee’s agreement allocates limited resources, including one officer. At previous meetings, the three members who voted against rescinding the agreement expressed concerns that they would not be able to represent Tallahassee residents on other important issues if suspended.