A controversial Florida law banning sanctuary cities has taken full effect, though some provisions obliging local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities have been blocked.
Miami U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom issued an order on Monday blocking provisions of SB 168 that would have required local police to cross state lines to help federal immigration authorities. However, Judge Bloom left in place a provision where the officers would have to detain illegal immigrants until the feds come to collect them. She wrote in the order that the law “leaves numerous cooperative avenues open for law enforcement officers to participate in the immigration efforts of federal officers.”
The sanctuary city ban stipulates that Florida police officers must cooperate with federal agencies and hold detainees in jail for an extra two days until U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) picks up the suspects and takes them to a federal detention center.
‘Great Strides in Protecting the Public’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, led efforts to get SB 168 passed. The bill passed the House in a 69-47 vote on April 24, and the Senate in a 22-18 vote on April 26.The law contains enforcement provisions that allow elected officials to be removed from office if they refuse to comply.
“This is about public safety, not about politics,” DeSantis said. “We must do everything within our power, and use all the tools available to us, to ensure that our communities are safe.”
According to the statement, DeSantis said the law “makes great strides in protecting the public from illegal aliens who unlawfully reside in our state by prohibiting state and local entities from having policies in place which prohibit or impede law enforcement from cooperating with a federal immigration agency.”
Speaking to reporters on the day the law was signed, Sen. Tom Lee (R) called sanctuary city policies an insult for those who enter the United States legally.
‘Baffled’
Judge Bloom’s decision to block only certain parts of the law ahead of its entry into force was criticized by South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard, a plaintiff in legal proceedings that sought an injunction over what the City of South Miami and immigrant advocacy groups called an unconstitutional immigration law.“I’m a little baffled by it. … It’s ridiculous,” Stoddard said, according to the Herald. “It’s putting immigration enforcement above public safety.”
In June, Stoddard and the groups filed the case against Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, after the signing of the federal immigration enforcement bill. An argument was that forcing local law enforcement to engage in federal immigration actions would divert municipal policing resources and discourage reporting of crime in immigrant communities.
ICE Report on Dangers of Sanctuary City Policies
In July, ICE released its first “Declined Detainer” report, highlighting the dangers posed when sanctuary cities block efforts by federal immigration authorities to remove an illegal immigrant from the country.The report highlights numerous cases in which law enforcement agencies failed to honor ICE detainers after arresting illegal immigrants, who then, after being released, later committed new crimes. Arrests of illegal immigrants included cases of drug possession, murder, burglary, and rape.
“Every day, ICE places detainers on individuals who the agency has probable cause to believe are aliens who are removable from the United States and are currently in federal, state, and local law enforcement agency custody,” the report says.
ICE said they place detainers on certain individuals they believe are “removable aliens in federal, state, and local law enforcement agency custody.”
Cooperation between ICE and law enforcement agencies are “critical to the effort to identify and arrest removable aliens and defend the nation’s security,” the report states.