Doral Councilwoman Maureen Porras says city officials blocked her effort to publicly discuss the city’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She said the city attorney kept the item off the council agenda, arguing that even debating it could be seen as an attempt to violate Florida law.
Porras raised concerns about Doral’s participation in the 287(g) program, which lets designated local officers carry out certain immigration enforcement duties under ICE supervision. In a memo, the city attorney warned that a discussion of the agreement could be viewed as signaling an intent to break state law. According to the memo, as described on CBS Miami’s “Facing South Florida,” that could prompt Attorney General James Uthmeier to seek removal of the entire council from office.
Porras told host Jim DeFede that residents have raised the issue with her and want it debated in public. She said she did not plan to take immediate action on the agreement. She wanted her colleagues to discuss its effect on the community.
The dispute comes as Doral, which has a large Venezuelan population, deals with the effects of federal immigration policy. The federal decision to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, along with more ICE enforcement, has fueled fear among residents and contributed to business closures, according to the report.
Florida law requires local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, and state officials have taken an aggressive approach to enforcing those rules. The case raises questions about how much room local elected officials have to debate immigration enforcement in public.
