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Please enter a valid email address. Having trouble? Click here. After President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting criminal migrants throughout U.S. communities, one Florida city’s showdown with the governor has created a ripple effect throughout the Sunshine State. Last month, a Fort Myers City Council meeting spiraled into chaos as officials sparred over a provision allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to train local law officers to identify criminal aliens and aid in deportation. ICE’s 287(g) program aims to facilitate partnerships between the federal agency and local cities throughout the country. Fort Myers defies DeSantis City officials in Fort Myers initially failed to pass the program on a 3-3 vote, with one member not in attendance, following a heated meeting that left two members in tears. FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TEAR UP AT VOTE OVER ICE PARTNERING WITH LOCAL OFFICERS The city of Fort Myers’ River District in Fort Myers, Florida. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)”I was embarrassed for our city,” Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson told Fox News Digital. “I believe the residents of our city want leadership that is strong, can listen to the difficult issues and make decisions.” Voicing their opposition on the record, council members Darla Bonk and Diana Giraldo became visibly upset as they denounced the program. “It is a tumultuous day and age, and this is a day I hate to be in this seat,” Bonk said, as she noted the risk of Fort Myers losing state and federal funds. “But my city is not for sale.””I can’t stand behind this as an immigrant, the only immigrant sitting [on] this council,” Giraldo said.Members of the Fort Myers City Council were not immediately available for comment. MAYORS, LOCAL OFFICIALS COULD FACE ARREST IF THEY DON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATIONS Councilmember Darla Bonk wipes a tear from her eye while speaking against the memorandum of agreement between United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Fort Myers Police Department during a city council meeting at Fort Myers City Hall in Fort Myers, Florida on March 17, 2025. Bonk voted against the memo. (Jonah Hinebaugh/The News-Press/USA Today Network-Florida) Councilmember Diana Giraldo wipes a tear from her eye during a city council meeting at Fort Myers City Hall in Fort Myers, Florida on March 17, 2025. The council had to consider a memorandum of agreement between United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Fort Myers Police Department. Giraldo voted against the memo. (Jonah Hinebaugh/The News-Press/USA Today Network-Florida)State officials took note of the city’s apparent hesitation to enact the program, with Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier penning a letter to the city council demanding it walk back its position or risk legal action. Uthmeier said that by failing to enact the program, Fort Myers had inadvertently declared itself a sanctuary city, which is prohibited under Florida law. “Failure to correct the Council’s actions will result in the enforcement of all applicable civic and criminal penalties,” Uthmeier wrote. Suddenly, Fort Myers was thrust into the national spotlight as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration waited for officials to make their next move, threatening the loss of state and federal funds. ‘PROMPT REMOVAL’: TRUMP DHS EXPANDS EXPEDITED DEPORTATION POWERS AS OPERATIONS RAMP UP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks on immigration issues and signs a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the Florida Highway Patrol during a roundtable event at Florida Gulf Coast University on Jan. 29, 2025. (Andrew West/The News-Press/USA Today Network)”Under this 287(g), we’ve said all jurisdictions in Florida must assist with immigration enforcement,” DeSantis said during an immigration enforcement discussion at New College of Florida, two days after Fort Myers failed to approve the agreement. “You saw this thing where the city council’s fighting the mayor and the police chief about whether [the] Fort Myers Police Department should be involved in it.” DeSantis went on to say that, under Florida law, each county and municipality within Florida must enter an agreement with ICE. “The last thing you want is to have the governor and the attorney general at odds with your city,” Anderson said. “I felt that we did create a de facto sanctuary city. That’s not the message we want to send. [Our] message is that we are a law-abiding community and we don’t tolerate criminal behavior.” FLORIDA SHERIFF SAYS ICE PARTNERSHIP ONLY THE BEGINNING IN ILLEGAL MIGRANT CRACKDOWN Mayor Kevin Anderson smiles while walking around after a special meeting to discuss a memorandum of agreement between United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Fort Myers Police Department at Fort Myers City Hall in Fort Myers, Florida on March 21, 2025. The memo passed 7-0. (Jonah Hinebaugh/The News-Press/USA Today Network-Florida)Days later, the city council called for a special meeting and, in a stunning about-face, voted unanimously to pass the memorandum. In response to Fox News Digital’s request for additional information, the DeSantis administration referred to Communication Director Bryan Griffin’s social media post crediting the city’s reversal to DeSantis “insisting that the legislation passed in [a] special session includes authority to remove local officials who refuse to actively participate in immigration enforcement.” Anderson believes the city council ultimately made the right decision.”Our first responsibility is the protection and safety of our community,” Anderson told Fox News Digital. “We are not bringing national politics, or even state politics, in to do this. We are focused on our level on how we keep this city safe and growing.” The Fort Myers Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. TRUMP BORDER CZAR REVEALS ICE TEAMS ARE ALREADY ARRESTING ‘PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS’ Demonstrators protest against the immigration policies imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, as Trump’s motorcade departs his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Feb. 8, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)South Miami fights back in the courts But the high-profile showdown between Fort Myers and the DeSantis administration was enough for other cities within Florida to turn to the courts for clarity, fearing the possibility of legal retribution if local officials did not choose to enter into an agreement with ICE. In response to Uthmeier’s warning to Fort Myers, the city of South Miami, located in Miami-Dade County, filed a civil lawsuit asking for clarity regarding officials’ obligations to sign an agreement with ICE. “The Commission is concerned about potential impacts resulting from the agreement as it relates to liability, insurance coverages and collective bargaining agreements,” Commissioner Steve Calle said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Given these concerns, the City seeks to determine whether signing the agreement is a legal obligation or if it can continue supporting ICE operations under existing state law, as it currently does.”STATES FIRE BACK AGAINST ‘SANCTUARY’ RESISTANCE AS THEY RALLY AROUND TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS Incoming and outgoing immigration detainees are processed at the Krome Service Processing Center in Miami, Florida. (Jack Gruber/USA Today)The lawsuit claims the Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) has repeatedly sent out emails “encouraging municipalities” to implement the 287(g) agreement under the direction of FDLE Executive Director of the State Board of Immigration Larry Keefe, with subject lines increasing in urgency from “Green Alerts” to, most recently, “Red Alerts.” “Many of the emails include listings and statistics as to which agencies have executed 287(g) agreements, with the implication that future ‘Red Alert’ emails may contain listings of agencies who have yet to sign 287(g) agreements,” according to the lawsuit. FPCA and Keefe did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Palm Beach County lays out ‘targeted’ deportation approach in light of formal ICE agreement Despite pushback from some cities throughout the state, other sheriffs’ departments are falling in line, looking to meet the DeSantis administration and their local communities in the middle. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has vowed to implement a more “targeted” approach while complying with the 287(g) program. CNN ANCHORS MOMENTARILY SILENT AFTER LEARNING WHY MIGRANT GANGS DON’T STAY IN FLORIDA: ‘THERE YOU GO TO JAIL’ Left to right: Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Gov. Ron DeSantis, State Rep. Mike Caruso and FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass talk about immigration during a news conference at the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Training Facility gymnasium in unincorporated Palm Beach County, Florida on Jan. 30, 2025. (Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post via USA Today)”We have been working with ICE for 10 to 12 years, so this is nothing new to us,” Bradshaw told Fox News Digital. “It’s just formalizing the program, because we had an agreement with [ICE] anyhow. We even had an office in the jail for an ICE officer before the Biden administration canceled all that stuff.”Bradshaw is taking aim at criminal aliens throughout Trump’s home county of Palm Beach, focusing his efforts on those who are a danger to the community in an area with a large migrant population without doing immigration sweeps. “It’s not mass deportation, it’s targeted deportation,” Bradshaw said. “It targets gang members, MS-13, Tren de Aragua, cartels, people that are wanted on warrants for felonies or if we arrest somebody who has committed a crime. It is not immigration sweeps – we don’t do that, we won’t do it. This is strictly after the bad guys in the neighborhoods.”FLORIDA SHERIFF ASKS TRUMP’S ICE TO REMOVE BIDEN-ERA ‘SHACKLES’ Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and Gov. Ron DeSantis talk about immigration during a press conference at the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Training Facility gymnasium in unincorporated Palm Beach County, Florida, on Jan. 30, 2025. (Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post via USA Today)Currently, 39 states have at least one active agreement in place, with four facing restrictions due to state law, five states with no active agreements and one with pending agreements, according to ICE. Under an executive order issued by Trump during his second term, ICE is required to authorize state and local law enforcement officials to perform the duties of immigration officers “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” In February, DeSantis directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Florida State Guard to comply with the 287(g) deportation functions. Additionally, all 67 of Florida’s counties have signed agreements with ICE, but the future of municipalities within the state remains unclear. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP”[ICE] values our ongoing working relationship with various Florida law enforcement agencies and recognizes the continued importance of sharing information and coordinating operations with state and local law enforcement partners in a way that best serves local needs and fulfills ICE’s important national security and public safety mission,” ICE said in a statement to Fox News Digital. While uncertainty regarding the future of the program continues to cloud the Sunshine State, local officials who remain in lockstep with the Trump and DeSantis administrations believe ICE’s 287(g) program is the answer to keeping their cities safe from criminal aliens. “We’ve got to find a way to clean this mess up,” Anderson told Fox News Digital. “For decades, the can has been kicked down the road. We have got to get firm and [figure out] how we make this work.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Florida officials juggle ICE deportation deal, local migrant communities
