ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County’s mayor signed an addendum that would allow county jail officials to transport immigration detainees to ICE facilities, despite a public war of words with Florida’s attorney general over the issue.
In a news conference on Friday, Jerry Demings called the move a difficult but necessary decision to protect local government leadership and community stability.
Demings also said the addendum arrived Friday morning via the U.S. Postal Service, explaining some of the timing confusion.
“I signed the damn thing because we really had to put on a tough spot. I can’t let our entire board of county commissioners and myself be removed from office,” said Demings.
Demings also addressed concerns about the operational impact of the agreement. He noted that ICE would have to request transport of detainees, and Orange County would assess its readiness before agreeing.
“I highly doubt that there will be such a time in the near future,” he said, citing a 24% vacancy rate among the county’s 880 certified corrections officers.
Demings also stressed the priority of maintaining safety for both jail employees and inmates, and mentioned recent tensions between ICE and some Florida sheriffs, who have accused ICE of recruiting deputies despite ongoing cooperation with local law enforcement.
The next step is to take the addendum to the Orange County Commission during its meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 5.
The decision to sign comes after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier demanded Orange County officials sign the addendum to the 287(g) agreement, threatening civil and criminal penalties, including being removed from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
[VIDEO: Florida attorney general demands Orange County agree to transport immigrants to ICE facilities]
Uthmeier said that by not signing the agreement, Orange County was effectively a “sanctuary county,” a violation of public law.
“Any local government effort to impede law enforcement’s ability to assist the federal government in immigration enforcement is per se a sanctuary jurisdiction,” Uthmeier told News 6’s Troy Campbell on Wednesday.
[WATCH: Uthmeier talks to News 6 about Orange County immigration debate]
Demings on Wednesday said he would not be bullied by the state attorney general.
“I find it somewhat ironic that the 37-year-old attorney general is attacking me, and personally attacking our board. I spent more years on the streets of Florida, patrolling our streets as a law enforcement officer, than he’s been alive,” Demings said.
[WATCH: Orange County mayor pushes back on Florida attorney general’s demands]
Demings said one of his concerns is that the county is housing the surge of inmates brought by the ICE crackdown, but the federal government is only reimbursing the county $88 for the daily cost, which is $145 a day.
“To date, the state hasn’t kicked in any money in terms of whatever the difference is,” Demings said, when we asked whether the state has contributed financially to the housing of inmates on ICE detainers. “We’re working with the comptroller’s office to really validate what the true cost is for Orange County to hold federal inmates in our facilities.”
When News 6’s Mike Valente spoke to Demings on Thursday, Demings did not say whether he would sign the addendum, and would not respond further on Uthmeier’s statements.
[WATCH: Orange County mayor stands by comments to attorney general]
“I’m not going to go there,” he said. “I mean, I said what I said at that point. We’ll move forward. The state had not had great communication about the immigration issues. We just got a letter release via the media. They didn’t even afford us the courtesy of directly sending the letter to us. And so, I don’t know, when you say ‘disparaging ‘— we’re going to move forward.”
Demings signed the original ICE agreement earlier this year, despite pushback from community advocates and even some Orange County commissioners.
Demings at the time said that not signing the agreement would have “greater, catastrophic impacts on our community.”
“As the CEO for Orange County, I cannot allow that to happen,” Demings said. “Especially after talking with (Public Safety Director Danny Banks) and (Chief of Corrections Louis Quiñones) about what’s the impact on us. ‘Are they asking us to do anything that we don’t do today?’ And the answer was no. We do this today with the exception of Chief Quiñones’ staff actually serving, being part of the group that serves the warrants, the ICE detainers. But in talking with the county attorney’s office, this is a mandate, this is the law. If you do not sign the agreement, you are essentially in violation of the law, and these are the consequences.”
Some commissioners, though, have continued to press for information and to find a way to get out of the agreement.
“We are continuing to be complacent in something that not only historically is going to be shown immoral, and I believe cruel and indefensible,” District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson said during a June meeting.
Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, executive director of the Hope CommUnity Center and a leader among Orange County’s immigration advocates, said he was “deeply appalled and urgently distressed” by the decision in a statement to News 6:
“By doing so, Mayor Demings becomes complicit with the human rights atrocities being committed at these centers, including the already infamous Alligator Alcatraz. I can’t stress this enough, as this is not about politics but about human lives.
“At a time when the Orange County Corrections Department is already operating with a 25% staffing shortage, adding immigration enforcement responsibilities is not only unnecessary, it’s irresponsible. This move risks diverting limited personnel and resources away from core public safety needs in order to participate in MAGA’s mass deportation agenda.
“In spite of statements to the contrary earlier this week, Mayor Demings folded under pressure. His decision represents a betrayal of the values of dignity, inclusion, and community that the residents of Orange County hold dear. The mayor himself previously stated that the county lacked the capacity to take on this role and rightfully remarked that moving federal detainees was the responsibility of the federal government. Furthermore, there’s no state or federal law requiring the county to fulfill the role imposed by DeSantis. In fact, when DeSantis attempted to slip the requirement into a bill, his own Republican Legislature opposed it and defeated it. What has changed, then, one might ask? Simple. The level of pressure being exerted by the DeSantis administration to enforce its anti-immigrant agenda by fear has exponentially intensified.”
[READ THE ICE 287(G) agreement]