Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Tuesday that Orange County officials could be removed from office if they stand by immigration sanctuary policies and fail to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Orange County officials recently rejected an amendment to expand the authority of corrections officers and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE, a move that Uthmeier asserts could be in violation of a Florida law that state counties must make their "best efforts" to help ICE.
"Failure to take corrective action will result in the enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including removal from office by the Governor pursuant to section 908.107, Florida Statutes, and the Florida Constitution," Uthmeier wrote to Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and the county's six commissioners.
Earlier this month, Demings said after a meeting with commissioners that the amendment would overburden the county by requiring local sheriff's departments to take on duties typically performed by ICE, such as moving federal inmates to federal detention centers.
"I take a strong stance on the transportation because that's not within our core responsibility as a County Correctional Facility to transport federal inmates to other federal detention facilities," Demings said.
"We don't have the capacity to do that," he added. "If the sheriffs want to do that, that's up to the sheriffs. But in terms of our correctional staff, they are not law enforcement. They are there to take care of the custody of persons who are within our Orange County Jail."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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