PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — On Wednesday, Punta Gorda became the latest city in Florida to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allowing some police officers to take on responsibilities typically handled by federal immigration agents.
Punta Gorda’s City Council unanimously approved the agreement, which entered the city into ICE’s 287(g) program, permitting select PGPD officers to be trained in immigration enforcement, granting them the power to interrogate suspected illegal immigrants and to serve immigration arrest warrants among other ICE duties.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on why the city attorney warned council members after their vote
Prior to the vote, about a dozen people spoke against the agreement during the public comment section of Wednesday’s meeting, many of whom were concerned about possible constitutional and civil rights violations.
“I disagree with local resources being used for federal actions that are unjust and unconstitutional,” said Linda Richardson.
“Will the police department start asking for a passport from anyone with dark skin or broken English?,” said Jim Blue.
Punta Gorda Police Chief Pam Smith tried to quell some of those concerns during the meeting, saying officers tasked with immigration enforcement duties will only exercise that power during their regular patrols. She also noted the department planned to start with two officers.
“We are not going to go out searching and doing round ups and pulling people out of their houses” said Smith during the meeting. “We're not going into schools, we’re not going into churches, this is just when they are in their normal course of duties.”
It wasn’t until after council had voted that the City Attorney David Levin spoke up and gave his legal opinion on the agreement.
“The city is not legally required to adopt this memorandum of agreement,” said Levin.
He also stated that the agreement could open the door for lawsuits against the city, if officers tasked with ICE responsibilities aren’t careful.
“This does create the potential for liability if the city does things that run afoul of constitutional rights,” said Levin. “It does not provide for any reimbursement to defend the city in case of those lawsuits.”
Fox 4 asked Levin why he waited until after the vote had taken place to opine on the agreement, and he said the council did not ask for his opinion.
Smith told Fox 4 that she’s not worried about potential lawsuits against the city because her officers are held to a high standard of conduct.
“I’m not concerned because I'm still going to hold officers accountable for constitutional policing, protecting people's rights, not racial profiling,” said Smith. “So, having an officer that’s more educated will probably in my opinion limit our liability more than increase it.”
Vice-Mayor Greg Julian spoke with Fox 4 after the meeting and said Levin’s opinion wouldn’t have changed his vote, and said that he’s confident that the officers trained by ICE will conduct their new duties responsibly.
“I had conversations with the police chief, and we talked at length about the memorandum,” said Julian. “I believe in her leadership and professionalism and that our police force won’t be going out of bounds. It just enables them to handle the situations better because they will have the training.”
Punta Gorda’s vote came just two days after Fort Myers City Council voted down the agreement in a 3-3 stalemate, which led to criticism from state leaders including Governor Ron DeSantis.
