ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County commissioners on Tuesday will meet to discuss the latest immigration enforcement measures in the community.
What You Need To Know
Orange County commissioners will discuss the number of ICE inmates being held at the Orange County Jail after a recent surge of detainees there
According to the Orange County Corrections Department, 196 ICE inmates with local charges and 32 inmates with no local charges were at the jail as of Feb. 9
They also will talk about the status of the county’s Intergovernmental Service Agreement contract negotiations
A legal review of a proposed moratorium on future non-municipal detention facilities will also be an agenda item
The meeting comes less than a week after Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced a cap on the number of ICE inmates at the county’s jail and the elimination of rebookings for detainees coming in with the same immigration-related charges.
The board will receive an update of the current jail statistics related to ICE detainees following a request from Demings during the last county commission meeting. Demings requested that the county administration, county attorney’s office and the Orange County Corrections Department provide an update of the overall ICE situation to commissioners.
According to the Orange County Corrections Department, 196 ICE detainees with local charges and 32 inmates with no local charges were being held at the jail as of Feb. 9. Demings has proposed limiting the detainees held without local charges to 66 males and 64 females.
County officials also will discuss the legality of a proposed moratorium against the development of future non-municipal detention facilities, but no action is being requested.
The status of the Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) contract negotiations also is up for discussion.
While federal authorities haven’t confirmed any plans to open a detention facility in Orlando, Central Florida leaders and immigration advocates said that early last month, immigration officers reportedly visited a warehouse facility in East Orange County, considering it as a possible ICE detention center.
Orange County District 5 Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad said that when it comes to a possible moratorium, she is torn between listening to what most of her voters want and adhering to federal law.
“From an implementation standpoint, I don’t know that our local government has the ability to preempt what the federal government comes looking to do, or the state, and we see that time and time again, that the state is preempting our local government, our local power, our local policies and local laws,” she said.
Ultimately, the county attorney will determine the legality of implementing a moratorium, Martinez Semrad said.