Miami-Dade abandons "sanctuary" status one day after Trump's crackdown

One day after President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening to cut federal dollars from cities and counties that don’t fully comply with federal immigration enforcement officials, the first so-called “sanctuary” has reversed course: Miami-Dade County.

Fearing a loss of millions of dollars from the federal government, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered county jails to begin complying with federal immigration detention demands. The move effectively unravels Miami-Dade’s status as a “sanctuary” for the undocumented.

“Sanctuaries” are jurisdictions that do not assist federal immigration enforcement officials by keeping individuals in custody beyond their release date so they can be “picked up” by immigration enforcement.

“In light of the provisions of the Executive Order, I direct you and your staff to honor all immigration detainer requests received from the Department of Homeland Security,” the Republican mayor wrote in a brief memo on Thursday to the interim director of Miami-Dade’s corrections and rehabilitation department, according to The Miami Herald.

Since 2013, Miami-Dade has declined to indefinitely detain inmates wanted by federal immigration enforcement. Unlike other cities, like San Francisco, that policy was not framed in principle. Rather, it was tied to the fact that federal authorities would not reimburse the county for the expense of keeping individuals in custody. Miami-Dade has resisted being characterized as a “sanctuary,” The Miami Herald notes.

Speaking to The Miami Herald, Mayor Gimenez put the shift in stark financial terms. Last year, Miami-Dade declined to continue detaining approximately 100 undocumented inmates wanted by federal immigration. Keeping them would have cost $52,000, The Miami Herald reported. In contrast, Miami-Dade is set to receive $355 million in federal funds in 2017, the newspaper noted.

“I want to make sure we don’t put in jeopardy the millions of funds we get from the federal government for a $52,000 issue,” Mayor Gimenez told The Miami Herald. “It doesn’t mean that we’re going to be arresting more people. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to be enforcing any immigration laws.”

President Trump took to Twitter to celebrate the mayor’s decision:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/miami-ch...mps-crackdown/

That was quick.


Only places like California and maybe New York will be able to take this.

Our cities are broke, even places like Chicago will succumb to the pressure, there is just no money left. The crooks in Washington took it all.

dis foo Cuban?

spineless prick

So one day in jail will lead to our deportation unless the city is a sanctuary city?

How are they going to assure that the multitude of cites are compliant? Are they just targeting big cities?

That is the idea yes...

My parents for example live in the Suburbs of Chicago.

Might be a good idea for them to move within the city limits.

won't bring back wet foot dry foot policy.

Lol there goes my city

I'm not surprised. Republican States (Miami is in a Republican state) depends on Federal funding because people there don't pay much taxes.

Miami is pretty liberal actually . Florida as a state itself is a swing state , this year repubs won but not by a large margin like usual . South Florida is really liberal where most of north and central Florida is mostly republican so