“Mayor [Jane] Castor is forcing sanctuary policies on the Tampa Police Department, which violates Florida law,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier posted on X earlier this month. “These policies must be reversed immediately, or there will be consequences.”
Uthmeier’s post included a letter he sent to Castor on March 11, accusing her of implementing new city law enforcement policies “prohibiting its police officers from sharing certain information with federal immigration authorities and limiting the immigration enforcement activities in which it participates.”
Tampa’s policies prohibited city cops from inquiring into or reporting to federal authorities the immigration status of any crime victim, witness, or individual requesting police services. They further prohibited officers from engaging in federal immigration enforcement, including workplace raids, traffic stops, and saturation sweeps, actions that have resulted in the detention of large numbers of illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes beyond being illegally present in the country.
Tampa’s policies appeared to contradict Florida statutes that ban “sanctuary city” policies of any kind and require state and local law enforcement to “use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law.” They also seem to violate cooperation agreements signed by Florida law enforcement and ICE pursuant to Article 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended in 1996, which provides for interservice cooperation in enforcement actions.
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