ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that his office has tools, including suspending duties to cooperate with local governments in working with federal immigration authorities to help local governments detain and deport.
The governor’s remarks came two days after Florida Attorney General James Usmierer warned city officials at Fort Myers that failure to approve immigration contracts with federal authorities could have serious consequences.
“If these local governments aren’t part of the solution, we’re in office with a lot of tools, including what we can do now,” DeSantis said to Trump administration’s border emperor Tom Homan at the immigration forum at New College in Sarasota. “We’ve done a lot in Florida, and we’ll see more of what’s going to happen over the next few weeks and months.”
On Monday, Fort Myers City Council failed to approve a contract that allowed U.S. immigration and customs enforcement agencies to train local legal officers to custody immigrants and detain them for potential deportation. Several councillors expressed concern that it would lead to racial profiling and harm the community.
Immigration advocates say the agreement resulted in the enforcement of immigration by local law officers.
On Tuesday, Usmeyer sent a letter to the city saying it could be in violation of state laws banning “sanctuary cities.” This is a name often given to local governments that restrict cooperation with immigration enforcement.
“In Florida, sanctuary policies are not acceptable or legal,” Usmeyer wrote. “Immediate corrective action is needed.”
A city spokesperson did not immediately respond to email inquiries Thursday.
DeSantis has a history of eliminating local officials he opposed, and critics say he is politically motivated. Earlier in the last decade, GOP Governor eliminated Monique Worrell, a democratic state prosecutor in the Orlando area, and said he did not seek a mandatory minimum sentence for gun crimes because he did not prosecute the crimes committed by minors. Disputing that claim, Worrell took office last year.
Another Democratic prosecutor, Andrew Warren, has been removed for his signature of a pledge that Andrew Warren, who covers the Tampa area, will not pursue criminal charges for abortions or gender transition treatments, and his policy of not putting charges against certain low-level crimes. Warren lost his bid last year to return to the office.
Last month, Desantis announced that several Florida law enforcement agencies had obtained an agreement with ICE, questioned, arrested and detained immigrants, and reported them to federal authorities who were suspected of being in the country illegally.
