ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer insists the city is following federal and state immigration law, one day after Florida’s attorney general threatened to remove Dyer from office over a city policy.
On Monday, Attorney General James Uthmeier called Orlando’s Trust Act policy “unlawful” and a “sanctuary policy.”
The 2018 Trust Act policy prohibits employees or police from asking a law-abiding person about their immigration status.
The city adopted the policy to alleviate concerns about residents not reporting crimes over fears of deportation.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Uthmeier says the Trust Act is void under a 2019 law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Dyer responded to Uthmeier on Tuesday with a letter, saying the city was continuing in its best efforts to “support the enforcement of federal immigration law, as well as state law.”
“Neither I nor the Orlando Police Department have any intention of violating federal or state law, and as you know, we have signed the Memorandum of Agreement 287(g) Task Force Model with ICE,” Dyer wrote.
Dyer also told Uthmeier that ICE was currently training Orlando police officers to comply with that policy, which directs local law enforcement officers to collaborate with the federal government to enforce federal immigration laws.
Last week, during a city council meeting, Dyer said police are still not supposed to ask about a person’s status if they call to report a crime.
“The police will not ask what their status is and will not be subject to any proactive activities of that sort,” Dyer said.
The full text of Tuesday’s letter is below.
