ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Mayor Jerry Demings is threatening to end the county’s cooperation agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement.
In a letter addressed to a grants specialist with the U.S. Marshals Service on Friday, Demings said little progress has been made since he first contacted the federal government about six months ago to request a renegotiation of the county’s Intergovernmental Service Agreement and that the county could consider terminating the deal if the issue is not resolved by March 13.
That takes the situation a step further than his previous letter, sent earlier this month, in which he said he would “cap the number of ICE inmates held in the Orange County Jail, starting March 1.”
In an interview earlier this week, Demings discussed his frustrations with the current deal.
“Here in Orange County, we have certainly cooperated with the federal government and the state in terms of ICE, but they aren’t paying us,” Demings said. “They have put us in a position where there’s a gap in what they have been reimbursing us for. So I’m fighting to make certain that Orange County taxpayers get the money back from the federal government that we deserve.”
Friday’s letter is the third that has been made public that Demings has sent to federal officials regarding the county’s cooperation with immigration enforcement and holding inmates.
In December, he sent a letter seeking a renegotiation of the IGSA, saying the county had not been reimbursed the proper amount.
On Feb. 3, he sent a letter to Homeland Security announcing plans to cap the number of inmates.