Uthmeier Warns Key West Commissioners to Rethink Ending Agreement With ICE

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier might have to lay the hammer down on a South Florida city unwilling to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That's because Key West commissioners voted 6-1 on Tuesday to rescind the city's 287(g) agreement, effectively ending the local police department's cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

"The City of Key West will be hearing from my office very soon," Uthmeier said

But this isn't the first time the attorney general has run into this problem. Last month, Broward County took a similar stance to Key West, but the county's top cop backed down after Uthmeier advised him to comply.

Miami Commissioners were a bit more cooperative weeks ago.

287(g) is a program reinstated under the Trump administration, which authorizes ICE to work with state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration laws.

Under the program, law enforcement agencies are permitted to identify and process illegal aliens with pending or active criminal charges, perform limited immigration enforcement under ICE's direction as part of their active duties, and serve and execute administrative warrants for deportable migrants in their facilities.

While municipal and local law enforcement agencies are not directly required to join 287(g), Uthmeier and Gov. Ron DeSantis have argued that the policy should be followed under Florida's sanctuary law.