The Orange County Commission on Tuesday will consider amending the county’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to include transportation.
The Florida Sheriffs Association sent the change to sheriffs and county jails throughout the state.
The updated agreement will permit corrections officers who have ICE training to drive undocumented immigrants detained at the Orange County Jail to other detention centers, like Alligator Alcatraz in the Everglades.
State Attorney General James Uthmeier recently thanked Marion County for helping to bus immigrants there. He also strong-armed Key West commissioners -- under threat of being removed from office -- into restoring that city's cooperation agreement with ICE.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has not signed the agreement, but he says most counties -- generally the sheriff’s offices that operate the jails -- have done so and federal and state authorities have been effective in getting compliance.
Counties and cities throughout the state have partnered with ICE under 287(g) agreements, which enable local law enforcement officers to act as immigration enforcement agents.
And Gov. Ron DeSantis has made that a priority.
Orange County has 17 correctional officers who have been trained and credentialed as warrant service officers under the 287(g) program, according to a county email.
The jail also has an Intergovernmental Service Agreement to house federal detainees from outside the county, but local taxpayers end up paying nearly 40% of the cost.
