Mayor Gimenez Reverses Policy on Undocumented Immigrants

MIAMI — One day after President Donald Trump targeted so-called sanctuary cities and jurisdictions, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez issued a memo ordering county jails to comply with the new White House policy.

"Miami-Dade County complies with federal law and intends to fully cooperate with the federal government," stated the one-page memorandum that was signed early Thursday evening. "I will partner with the Board of County Commissioners to address any issues necessary to achieve this end."

Gimenez and other elected officials had feared that that the county might be unfairly lumped in with cities that openly shield undocumented immigrants from prosecution as Patch reported earlier.

The memorandum, which was titled "Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States," was addressed to Daniel Junior, interim director of the county's Corrections and Rehabilitation Department.

"In light of the provision of the executive order, I direct you and your staff to honor all immigration detainer requests received from the Department of Homeland Security," the mayor directed.

The county appears on a map of sanctuary jurisdictions published by the Center for Immigration Studies, which has obtained some of its funding from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Justice Department and claims to be an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization.

"I don’t believe we’re a sanctuary city," Gimenez told a television new interview. "And so, maybe it’s a question of definition. If that’s the case, then we need to get together with the federal government."

Cunty spokesman Mike Hernandez took to Twitter on Wednesday evening to clarify the mayor's position, saying that the county "cooperates with the federal government on immigration matters."

He added that Miami-Dade's potential designation as a sanctuary community was under review by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The apparent change in county policy followed President Trump's signing of an executive order on Wednesday that will withhold federal funds from local jurisdictions that offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants. The president signed the executive order during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security.

Sanctuary cities and counties are called that because they offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants, refusing to turn them over to federal officials for deportation. Most sanctuary cities and counties have also passed laws preventing employees from even turning over information to immigration officials.

Miami-Dade County is among 10 jurisdictions that face a June 30 deadline to change their so-called sanctuary policy or risk having to return some $13 million in federal grant money, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, which lists the county on a map of sanctuary jurisdictions.

Inclusion on that map was based on a 2013 Miami-Dade resolution — R-1008-13 — that required the federal government to agree in writing to reimburse the costs of honoring detainment orders in the case of undocumented immigrants. It also limited the county's compliance to only those inmates who had previous convictions for forcible felonies under Florida law or those inmate facing a pending charge on a non-bondable offense.

When the resolution was passed, Miami-Dade officials maintained that blanket compliance with detainment requests could "undermine trust between local police officers and the immigrant community" and that compliance with such requests had already cost the county more than $1 million in 2011 and more than $600,000 in 2012.

President Trump's order didn't specify which funds would be withheld, sources said that the most likely funding target would be the various grants given to local governments through the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Both agencies administer billions in grant money.

Such grants include Homeland Security's Urban Area Security Initiative that helps cities prepare for acts of terrorism and the Edward Byrne Grant Program that was named for a New York City police officer killed in the line of duty. The latter provides funding for a range of programs, including crime victim assistance, drug patrols and drug treatment.

Photo of Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez courtesy of Miami-Dade County.