Dozens Speak Out as Miami Approves ICE Agreement

Miami City commissioners on Tuesday ignored the pleas of scores of residents who voiced opposition to the city signing an agreement to deputize Miami Police Department officers as quasi-immigration enforcement agents.

The commission voted 3-2 to approve a resolution to deputize qualified MPD officers to work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Commissioners Joe Carollo, Miguel Gabela, and Ralph Rosado voted in favor; Christine King and Damian Pardo voted against.

The commission passed the resolution after nixing one to defer the item until state judges rule on a lawsuit filed by the nearby municipality of South Miami challenging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' assertion that a failure to sign 287(g) agreements would amount to a violation of the state's prohibition against so-called sanctuary cities.

Prior to Tuesday's meeting, residents formed long lines outside city hall. First- and second-generation immigrants, politicians, teachers, domestic workers, and professionals of myriad backgrounds waited under the South Florida sun to speak against the agreement in comments that ran for more than four hours, calling the vote cartoonish, craven, fascist, hypocritical, racist, reprehensible tyrannical, and a betrayal to the cultural diversity so central to Miami's soul.

Public comment ran from about 10 a.m. until the commissioners' 1 p.m. lunch break, after which dozens more residents voiced opposition for another hour.

Comments echoed advocates' concerns, beginning with Abel Delgado, who shared that his father was a political prisoner outside the U.S.

"ICE is sending Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians, and others into dictatorships and complete chaos," Delgado said. "If you agree with this deal with ICE, you are [putting] police officers in an impossible [position] to arrest their neighbors, who are just living the American dream."

The comments drew applause from the audience, prompting Christine King, the commission chairwoman, to warn that another outburst could lead to officers clearing the commission chambers.

Modesto Abety-Gutierrez, founder of a local nonprofit, the Children's Trust, argued that the city should not participate in "the lawless kidnappings and separation of our immigrant families."

"The city must instead support immigrants' rights and due process," Abety-Gutierrez said. "We simply could not function without our hard-working immigrant base. We are an immigrant city. Our immigrant families are hard-working people, not criminals, murderers, or rapists."

An early commenter summed up a seemingly common feeling among the dozens who spoke. "I ask you to make the courageous choice," the woman said. "I know it is hard to say no, but in doing so you are safeguarding our pledge for safety and justice for all."

One of a handful of politicians who joined the line of residents to speak up was former City Commissioner Ken Russell, who noted that the commission agenda had teased the possibility that the 287(g) item might be deferred. "Many more people would have come here to speak if not for that word," Russell said.

Commissioners had initially deferred the item at a meeting in April, and the rescheduled date of June 12 was pushed to this week.

Many commenters noted that empowering the city's police force to act as ICE agents would make the community less safe because immigrants would be less likely to report crimes for fear they themselves might be arrested and deported.

A pair of pediatric doctors said Trump's hardline stance on immigration has already frightened immigrants to the point where they're putting off seeking necessary medical care.

"We saw an undocumented family scared to call 911 when a baby was found unresponsive," one of the doctors said. "They waited until they could find a documented family member to bring them in, and it was too late."

Similar fears have bled into schools, a teacher said, asserting that her students are afraid to go to school and work because they worry they might be detained and deported with little or no due process.

Former Key Biscayne mayor Mike Davey urged commissioners to stand up to DeSantis'  overstepping by threatening cities who don't comply and sign 287(g) agreements. "When the state tries to oppress us, we need to stand up," he said at the meeting.

Prior to the vote, Gabela moved to defer, noting Donald Trump's recent directive to pause raids on farms, hotels, and restaurants.

"I feel the pain of our country," King said. "I feel the pain of my residents, afraid to leave their homes, afraid to get medical attention for their children. And I don't want to be part of that."

City Attorney George Wysong warned commissioners that voting against the agreement could have adverse consequences. "There's a very strong indication in the law that if you vote against this, you will be hindering police," he said. "The state says if you don't purposefully or don't allow 287(g), you would be making a sanctuary policy."

That might lead state and federal agencies to deny millions of dollars in grants to the city, Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales added, noting that officers could only act as immigration agents under the direct supervision of actual ICE officers. Given that the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office has already dedicated 100 officers to the 287(g) program, the MPD would only need to offer three officers, Morales said.

Miami joins Coral Gables, Doral, Hialeah, Homestead, Miami Springs, and West Miami in signing on to the 287(g) agreement.