![\"Pinellas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GualtieriWalking.jpeg\")
Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri outside the Carillon Hilton in St. Petersburg, Florida on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: Valerie Smith \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\nPinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri outside the Carillon Hilton in St. Petersburg, Florida on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: Valerie Smith \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n
Last February, nearly all of Pinellas County\u2019s 10 local police departments signed \u201c287(g) agreements,\u201d which deputize local police to do some of the jobs of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Records obtained by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay show that the agreements were signed within days of each other\u2014right after Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told Pinellas chiefs of police that new laws put \u201clegal obligations\u201d on all of them to \u201cdo certain things\u201d at threat of removal from office by Governor Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n
As previously reported,<\/a> 287(g) agreements allow designated immigration officers (DIOs) to incorporate immigration enforcement into their jobs. After completing a 40-hour online training, DIOs can make arrests for civil immigration warrants that are usually only enforceable by ICE agents. They can also question civilians on their legal residency status and conduct immigration investigations according to agency-specific policies.<\/p>\n Following a Feb. 25 email and conference call from Gualtieri, several police chiefs in Pinellas said they believed they were required to enter into the agreement. Police departments are not required<\/a> to sign on to 287(g) agreements in the first place, but now that they have, it\u2019s not clear if they can leave them without violating Florida law. South Miami\u2019s police department wasn\u2019t legally required<\/a> to sign an agreement, but Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier used Florida\u2019s law against \u201csanctuary cities\u201d to pressure Key West to re-enter their 287(g) agreement<\/a> after they attempted to end it.\u00a0<\/p>\n DeSantis\u2019 liberal use of his ability to remove people from office has caused some officials to make decisions they don\u2019t agree with, largely out of fear that they\u2019ll be replaced with appointees friendly to the governor, according to WUSF.<\/a><\/p>\n Gualtieri email threatens removal, police chiefs quickly sign on<\/p>\n Through public record requests, CL obtained an email<\/a> Gualtieri sent to all Pinellas police chiefs on Feb. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter my email last night, I have received a couple of calls with questions, including about the email you all received from (Florida Police Chiefs Association) asking you to sign the street 287(g) taskforce MOA,\u201d the email reads.<\/p>\n \u201cTo say all of this immigration stuff is confusing is an understatement. It is also at the forefront of Florida politics and an absolute priority of the Governor. The new law puts legal obligations on all of us to ensure we do certain things and the consequences for not doing so include removal from office by the Governor, including his power to remove police chiefs, city managers, mayors, and commission\/council members,\u201d Gualtieri told the chiefs. He then said there was too much to explain in an email and scheduled a call for that evening.<\/p>\n On the call with Gualtieri was Pinellas County Schools\u2019 then-Police Chief Luke Williams. After the call\u2014and without asking the school board\u2014Williams immediately signed a Memorandum of Agreement with ICE to enroll Pinellas County Schools Police in the 287(g) program. ICE rejected the agreement, saying they didn\u2019t expect school police to participate, according to WUSF.<\/a><\/p>\n After public outcry, Williams told the school board that signing the agreement was a mistake, saying he signed following the phone call with Gualtieri. \u201cAs a result of that meeting, it appeared to me that there was no other alternative than to comply,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n That same week, Gulfport Police Chief Mary Farrand wrote a statement in The Gabber,<\/a> saying, \u201cBased on the research I conducted and the local meetings I attended, it was my understanding that law enforcement leaders were required to sign the agreement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Nearly a year later, City Manager Jim O\u2019Reilly told Gulfport City Council, \u201cThe governor issued a directive that all law enforcement agencies \u2026 were required to sign a 287(g) agreement.\u201d CL did not find any such directive beyond a failed legislative proposal<\/a> made by the governor, and O\u2019Reilly has not yet responded to a request asking for more information about it.<\/p>\n The only police department that waited for a vote from the city to sign a 287(g) agreement was Largo. At its Mar. 18, 2025, meeting,<\/a> Largo Police Chief Mike Loux told the city commission that \u201cFlorida legislature passed a law that requires us to comply with 287(g).\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019d go that far, chief,\u201d City Attorney Alan Zimmet replied. \u201cI don\u2019t see anything that says you\u2019d be in violation, that this is absolutely required.\u201d The commission voted to enter into the agreement and Loux signed it that evening.<\/p>\n Within the email, Gualtieri referenced an email he had sent<\/a> the previous night advising that ICE had put its own administrative warrants in a police database and detailing how officers should respond. He also referenced an email from the Florida Police Chiefs Association,<\/a> in which chiefs were asked to consider signing 287(g) agreements.<\/p>\n \u201cDirector Keefe has provided us with a template MOA for departments to review and consider regarding participation in in 287(g) programs. Director Keefe is seeking participation from as many municipalities as possible, as soon as possible,\u201d the email from FPCA reads. The email did not say that agencies were required to sign on to these agreements.<\/p>\n Protestors have been demanding an end to 287(g) agreements in Tampa Bay for months\u2014with many arguing that they destroy trust with immigrant communities that police have worked hard to build\u2014but municipalities are seemingly stuck in legal uncertainty. Even if ending a 287(g) agreement is possible, it could result in a costly legal battle<\/a> for whichever city does it first.<\/p>\n Gualtieri\u2019s push for increased local-federal collaboration<\/p>\n It\u2019s not unusual for Pinellas police chiefs to meet with the sheriff to talk about enforcement. All Pinellas law enforcement agencies are a part of the Pinellas Police Standards Council, a group organized to coordinate policy among and between agencies. This time, the discussion was initiated and led by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, a figure trusted by other law enforcement leaders for his legal knowledge, especially pertaining to local immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n For the better part of a decade, and with little fanfare, Gualtieri has been pushing federal and state government to allow local police to do more immigration enforcement. He\u2019s also helped create policy<\/a> to this effect.<\/p>\n Gualtieri has a law degree from Stetson University College of Law, and he served as a patrol deputy and general counsel for PCSO before becoming sheriff. Gualtieri is on the recently-created Florida State Immigration Enforcement Council, where he is regarded as the primary subject matter expert on the legality of local immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no one that I\u2019m aware of that is better qualified to educate us than Sheriff Gualtieri,\u201d Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during the first immigration enforcement council meeting<\/a> last March. \u201cHe\u2019s made this a mission for years and years.\u201d<\/p>\n In the same meeting, Gualtieri touted his 2017 work with then-ICE Director, now-Border Czar Tom Homan to help create a form of 287(g) agreement that streamlines enforcement in county jails. Gualtieri also criticized the Obama administration for ending a form of 287(g) agreement which was discontinued after evidence showed<\/a> it resulted in repeated racial profiling.<\/p>\n Gualtieri said he wanted to use his expertise to jump bureaucratic hurdles and expedite local immigration enforcement. \u201cLet\u2019s figure out how to make all of this happen against the constraints of law, rules, regulations,\u201d Gualtieri said to the gathered sheriffs and police chiefs as they brainstormed ways to integrate ICE into every level of law enforcement.<\/p>\n Gualtieri drafted and proposed a plan that would allow sheriffs to transport anyone in jail on an ICE detainer to the local ICE office so that they wouldn\u2019t be released after the mandatory 48-hour window is up. ICE declined the proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was a phenomenal idea,\u201d Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prommell said at the meeting. \u201cUnfortunately, \u2026 lawyers got involved and, like you stated before, cold feet.\u201d<\/p>\n Gualtieri has repeatedly said that having local law enforcement conduct immigration enforcement results in fewer arrests<\/a> of \u201ccollaterals,\u201d or people who lack criminal charges but don\u2019t have legal resident status.\u00a0<\/p>\n Judd recently said that 74% of immigration arrests by the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office were of people with criminal charges, but WPTV found<\/a> that just 16% of those were considered violent crimes.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have the advocacy groups out there that are bellyaching and moaning about, \u2018This guy only got arrested on a suspended driver\u2019s license charge, this guy only got arrested on a petit theft charge,\u2019\u201d Gualtieri said at last March\u2019s meeting. \u201cYeah, but there is an underlying reason why the person was previously deported for all kinds of other stuff, and it could be violent crime and it could be because they were removed previously.\u201d<\/p>\n Gualtieri said that ICE was responsible for deciding if they wanted custody of anyone booked on state charges based on ICE\u2019s internal database. He did not say whether ICE would avoid deporting people due to lack of violent criminal history. Gualtieri also did not address how this referral of people with nonviolent charges to ICE affects the reduced \u201ccollateral\u201d arrest rate he touted.<\/p>\n The Pinellas County Sheriff\u2019s Office did not respond to several requests for comment, and Gualtieri declined an interview request from CL without providing a reason.<\/p>\n Sebasti\u00e1n Gonz\u00e1lez de Le\u00f3n y Le\u00f3n and the San Pedro Gazette contributed to this article through editorial support.<\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Feb. 12 \u2013 18, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/tp_usa_sat-8.webp.jpeg\")
Tom Homan at Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida on July 12, 2025. Credit: Dave Decker \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n