In the past ten years, several\nstates have passed legislation trying to clamp down on dangerous sanctuary\npolicies at the local level, with mixed success. Florida\u2019s 2019 anti-sanctuary law, Senate\nBill (SB) 168, is one of the most recent, but some of its distinct features may\nbe why it\u2019s already garnering national attention for how dramatically it\u2019s\nenhanced the working relationships between state and local law enforcement and\nfederal immigration authorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chief feature of SB 168 that\nmakes it unique among anti-sanctuary laws is that it doesn\u2019t just ban sanctuary\npolicies, but actually requires some local law enforcement agencies to work\nactively with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Principally, the law directs every agency\nthat runs one of Florida\u2019s 67 county jail systems to enter into a formal\ncooperative agreement with ICE under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and\nNationality Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the \u201cfull” 287(g)\nprogram has been around since the 1990s, the National Sheriffs Association along\nwith Florida sheriffs worked with ICE to develop and roll out two new\n\u201cmini-287(g)\u201d programs, the Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) program and the\nWarrant Service Officer (WSO) program. The BOA and WSO are less\nresource-intensive for the local agencies that use them. These \u201cmini 287(g)\u201d agreements give state and\nlocal law enforcement access to ICE’s databases, train them on immigration\nenforcement, allow them to issue and serve immigration detainers and\nadministrative warrants, and most importantly protect them from liability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before April 2019, there were only four Florida counties with 287(g) agreements.\u00a0 Now there are 49<\/a> of them.\u00a0 When FAIR published its nationwide survey<\/a> of sanctuary jurisdictions in 2018, it identified 15 sanctuary cities and counties in Florida \u2013 now there appears to be none.\u00a0 According to ICE spokeswoman Tamara Spicer, even though all Florida counties do not yet have agreements with ICE, every single one of them now honors immigration detainers. When requested by ICE, all local law enforcement will now hold illegal aliens up to 48 hours after release on their state charges so that ICE can pick them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many tangible successes since the passage of SB 168. One example was in Pasco County. There, the 287(g) agreement led to the identification and eventual deportation of 40 criminal aliens by the end of December 2019.\u00a0 Another example is Alachua County, which was previously identified by FAIR as a sanctuary county.\u00a0 Alachua County turned<\/a> over 14 criminal aliens to ICE between June and December 2019, an increase from only three in all of 2017.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n While SB 168 doesn\u2019t specifically\nrequire it, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and his Secretary of Corrections,\nretired US Army Provost Marshal General Mark Inch, are working with ICE on a\nsimilar agreement for the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC). The\nNorthwest Florida Reception Center in Washington County will be the first Florida\nDOC facility to be covered by an agreement. They submitted their agreement in\nDecember and are awaiting final approval from ICE. Florida will be the fourth state DOC with an\nagreement. Arizona, Georgia and Massachusetts DOCs already have agreements in place.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Florida Attorney General\u2019s (AG)\nOffice, which enforces the anti-sanctuary law, has only received one complaint\nof a possible violation since its anti-sanctuary law went into effect. Currently the AG\u2019s office has no active\ninvestigations, though they \u201cstand ready to enforce the law.\u201d In less than a\nyear, Florida has become a model for an effective anti-sanctuary state. State and local law enforcement are acting as\nforce multipliers for ICE demonstrating the U.S. Congress\u2019 vision for states\nhelping enforce our nation\u2019s immigration laws. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the past ten years, several states have passed legislation trying to clamp down on dangerous sanctuary policies at the local level, with mixed success. Florida\u2019s 2019 anti-sanctuary law, Senate Bill (SB) 168, is one of the most recent, but some of its distinct features may be why it\u2019s already garnering national attention for how<\/p>\n