Jane Castor campaigns for Joe Biden in Tampa. By Kim DeFalco/WMNF News (2024 July 8).
If Castor is removed before her term is up in May of next year, then the Tampa City Council Chair would become acting mayor, which is currently District 1’s Alan Clendenin.
by Valerie Smith– Creative Loafing Tampa Bay – March 11, 2026
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor could be removed from office over an alleged Tampa Police Department immigration policy.
In a letter to Castor on Wednesday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said TPD is violating the law by not disclosing immigration status of crime victims to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A 2019 Florida law, drafted in part by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, prohibits municipalities from enacting any “sanctuary policy” that “prohibits or impedes a law enforcement agency from communicating or cooperating with a federal immigration agency.” Last year, the statute was updated to require municipalities to “use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
The term “best efforts” has not yet been defined or ruled on by a court. Refusing to drop the alleged policy could mean civil penalties and removal from office for Castor, which could also result in a legal battle that would define “best efforts.”
According to section 4.02 of the Tampa City Charter, if Castor is removed before her term is up in May of next year, then Tampa City Council Chair Alan Clendenin would be acting mayor.
In a statement sent to press Wednesday afternoon the mayor said the city is actively reviewing the AG’s accusations and currently going over TPD policies.
“In light of the Attorney General’s letter today, the City of Tampa will review the concerns raised and evaluate our policies and procedures to ensure that we use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law,” said Castor. “Tampa is one of the safest cities of our size in the nation because we built trust with our community through collaboration,” said Castor. “The Tampa Police Department signed the 287(g) and developed its immigration enforcement policy in consultation with partner agencies and law enforcement associations to ensure all immigration-related actions are carried out according to state and federal law.”
Castor was the police chief for Tampa for six years before she was elected mayor.
“TPD prohibits officers from sharing information with federal immigration authorities regarding victims or witnesses of a crime, including investigating whether they have lawful status,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter also posted to X.
Uthmeir added that the state wants immigrants “to fear immigration consequences to the extent they are here unlawfully.”
A spokesperson for TPD has not yet responded to requests for comment.
It’s not clear how Uthmeier was alerted to TPD’s policy. Last year, the Florida State Board of Immigration Enforcement set up a tip line for law enforcement officers to report their departments for not enforcing immigration law. The majority of submissions to the tip line were from people who thought it was a form to report immigrants lacking legal resident status.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has wielded the threat of removal to coerce local leaders before, including pushing local police into cooperating with ICE. Gualtieri warned Pinellas police chiefs of the specter of removal from office when they were rushed into signing 287(g) agreements last year. TPD signed a 287(g) agreement around the same time.
DeSantis has removed several political opponents from office and has had some of his removals challenged in court. Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren was removed from office when he pledged not to prosecute violators of an abortion ban. This lawsuit went to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case was dismissed because Warren had already lost his bid for reelection and the outcome of the lawsuit wouldn’t change that. Castor’s final term in office will end next year.
Relationships between police and immigrants have been a central concern of law enforcement leaders who are cautious about entering 287(g) agreements with ICE. The agreements, which municipalities are not required to join, deputize some local officers to conduct certain immigration duties.
If local police officers are also immigration officers, immigrants may be less likely to help the police with investigations when they are victims or witnesses of crimes, the nonpartisan group American Progress has argued.
Florida police have arrested lawful residents who ended up in ICE detention, including a pregnant Tampa resident named Amanda Cardoso who was here lawfully, awaiting a green card, and had not committed the crime for which she was arrested. Following the arrest, Cardoso spent several months of her pregnancy in ICE detention with little access to medical care.
This may be why some departments, including the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, have adopted policies to ensure victims and witnesses can still work with the police without fear of being detained.
Notably, the Florida statute that guides local collaboration with federal immigration enforcement also contains the stipulation: “This section does not authorize a law enforcement agency to detain an alien unlawfully present in the United States pursuant to an immigration detainer solely because the alien witnessed or reported a crime or was a victim of a criminal offense.”
Uthmeier said that the policy isn’t needed in local departments because there are other options for crime victims and witnesses who fear deportation. He linked to a website describing “U visas,” which temporarily protect from deportation in the event that someone is the victim of a severe crime. However, these are capped at 10,000 per year; last year, the U.S. met that cap by September.
The process of applying for this visa is long and the backlog is currently stuck in 2017, according to DHS’s website, and the few other protections for victims can also be hard to attain.
This story first appeared at Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication or donor interested in Tampa Bay Journalism Project, please email rroa@ctampa.com.
