TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Spurring Florida in the red-state race to aid President Donald Trump’s deportation program, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed off on agreements that several more factions of state-level law enforcement will work hand-in-hand with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to detain and potentially interrogate illegal immigrants.
The agreements signed Wednesday concern the Florida State Guard, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Department of Agriculture and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The governor compared these latest agreements to the accord he reached for the Florida Highway Patrol, signed last week so that troopers could be trained and approved by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to perform immigration enforcement duties via ICE’s 287(g) Program.
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Speaking at a news conference in the Florida Capitol Building, DeSantis said Florida was leading the way in getting local, state and federal authorities on the same page when it comes to immigration enforcement.
“Now that 287 is being revived, we have the ability to receive delegation for our state and local law enforcement officers to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight. It also allows ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations to partner with state and local enforcement agencies to identify and remove already-incarcerated criminal aliens who are eligible for removal before they are rereleased into the community.” DeSantis said. “(...) We’re going to finalize everything that needs to be done on the state immigration board at our next cabinet meeting, so we’ll be soliciting input from the law enforcement council — they’re going to provide recommendations that will synthesize and utilize, you know, to the extent it’s appropriate, in the extent that we agree with that — and then we’re going to be off to the races. So this is something that I don’t think there’s any state that’s even in the ballpark of doing what Florida has done so far.”
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DeSantis was joined by State Board of Immigration Enforcement Executive Director Larry Keefe, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Roger Young, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass and Florida State Guard Director Mark Thieme.
He was originally scheduled to hold the event at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Orlando Regional Operations Center along W. Robinson Street in Orlando, yet weather conditions forced the downtown news conference to be canceled, according to a statement. Radar activity indicated widespread rain in North Florida at the time of the update.
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