Attempting to make good on his campaign promises, Governor Ron DeSantis is encouraging the state senate to pass a bill eliminating sanctuary cities in Florida. The decision has come under fire from civil rights groups saying that the bill would make undocumented immigrants less likely to call and cooperate with police in cases of emergency for fear of deportation, in turn making communities less safe. DeSantis also instructed the state to beginning participating in the 287(g) program, which “allows state and local law enforcement officials to investigate, apprehend, detain and transport undocumented immigrants facing deportation.” The program has been heavily expanded since President Trump took office and 3 counties with the addition of Jacksonville already are implementing the program. But other cities, like Miami, are pushing back saying there is no need for additional information sharing since there are no local governments that have not reached ICE compliance standards.
Discusion Questions:
Without all counties and states cooperating, is the program doomed to fail?
Do state-level programs produce the most effective immigration policy?
Based off of the arguments made in the de Graauw reading, de Graauw would back the claim that the extension of the program down to more local levels would hinder the crime reporting and safety of households holding undocumented immigrants. Since the safety and reporting of crime is seen to have increased with municipal ID cards granted to all citizens including illegal immigrants, and also a more secure feeling of not being detained in the community by local authorities, doing the opposite and having local authorities seek out such immigrants would most likely cause much less crime reporting and safety of households with undocumented immigrants.